Inked In The Stars
by Pandora's Box Is Heavy
Summary: Is it fate, or simply inked in the stars?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

 **Summary: Is it fate, or simply inked in the stars?**

 **big thanks to Sally aka Alice's White Rabbit! bless the betas**

 **Also, JA Mash makes the best banners and is the most supportive person I've ever met.**

 **1**

 **E**

"Come on, guys." Emmett pleads, hands together like he's praying. "I'm begging you here."

Jasper takes a drag from the joint he just rolled and shakes his head.

"Not a chance." he coughs, smoke billowing out of his mouth.

"Same here. I don't want to hang out at a sorority house on my only night off this week." I tell him, grimacing at my best friend who's sprawled out on my couch, wearing only his boxers.

Emmett's so pussywhipped he's willing to spend his entire Saturday night among dyed and fried blonde bimbos with an "oh, my God" complex.

I'm not into it.

I'm not doing it.

"Rose said she has a couple of friends that she wants to set you guys up with."

"No fucking way, man."

Jasper and I both wear masks of horror.

The last time Rose tried to set us up, Jasper almost got a broomstick shoved up his ass for shits and giggles, and I filed my first restraining order. Hopefully, it's the only restraining order I'll ever file, but with the world as it is, you never know.

Tanya and her sister Irina were straight out of the loony bin. I won't be surprised if we find out Rose is a little crazy herself, considering they're all related. _Psychotic can be passed down a bloodline, right?_

"Come on." Emmett pouts. "Don't make me go to this thing alone."

The pout might work on our mom. Hell, it might even work on Rosalie, but I ain't buying it.

"No, Emmett. Go hang out with frat boys and sorority girls. I have some laundry to fold, and then Jasper and I are going to rent a game from the Redbox and chill here." I tell him dismissively.

Em starts grasping at straws.

"But ... Jasper, man, there will be weed. _Free_ weed. As much as you can smoke. I think Rose said something about edibles."

Ah, shit.

 _There go my plans to hang with my friend tonight_.

Jasper—never one to pass up a free high—stands up and reaches for his pants.

"Edward?" Emmett arches a brow.

"No." I shake my head firmly.

"Think of all the free booze," he coaxes.

I do think of the free booze for about half a second. Hell, if I were back to being a twenty-one-year-old college student, I'd be all for a late night binge the night before work. Waking up still drunk from the night before and barely managing to make it in for my shift.

Back when my job was a cashier at a jiffy.

Back when I could ace a test without even thinking about it.

Back when things were simple.

At thirty-one, my well-used liver and body enjoy a quiet night with video games and maybe a beer or two. I'm an adult now.

Sometimes it sucks, but that's just how it is.

Jasper picks up his little pot tin, puts it in his back pocket, and places his extinguished joint behind his ear.

"I'm not going alone. Let's go."

It's two against one.

I guess I'm going to a sorority party.

 _Fuck._


	2. Chapter 2

**Surprise!**

 **A lot of readers are questioning why Edward and his friends are attending a sorority party**

 **Emmett is twenty-six and dating a freshman, Rose. He didn't want to go alone.**

 **2**

 **E**

"You do realize we're practically ancient compared to these kids, right?" I question when we pull up in front of a giant mansion with alpha, beta—whatever the fuck—symbols gracing the front right above the double doors.

Fairy lights are hanging everywhere, leading toward—what I'm guessing is—the back yard where all the noise is coming from.

"Nah, Rose said it's a block party." Emmett shrugs.

"It's a block of sorority and frat houses, Em." Jasper points out.

"Well, too late to turn back now."

We regretfully follow him into the house and are immediately accosted by half-naked girls and toga-wearing guys. It's such a fucking cliché. The scent of stale beer and too much heavy perfume permeates the crowd.

 _Buckcherry_ circa 2005 is blaring through the speakers spread throughout.

I already can't wait to leave.

Someone hands me a cup, but I'm not stupid. I know better than to take a drink from a stranger. I set it on the first surface I see and stumble out the back door.

There's a pool; there's always a pool. Girls that "forgot" their bathing suits have stripped down to their underwear and are swimming around in an attempt to be seductive.

Just a note: there's nothing remotely sexy about swimming. Hair slicks down like wet noodles and makeup melts off their faces, making them look like drowned, long-haired raccoons. Maybe that's what they're going for _Who knows these days._

Beer pong is set up in the far corner where frat boys are doing keg stands, and people are cheering for the two teams on either side of the table.

Apparently, the red side is doing fucking phenomenally because that's what they're chanting.

"Edward," Rose greets, sauntering over to me in sky-high heels and a dress that might as well be a Band-aid.

She plants an open-mouthed kiss on my lips, like always. I think she does it because she knows it disgusts me. She kisses my brother with that mouth, and I know him.

I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.

"Rose. Thanks for inviting us."

I turn to find that Jasper is long gone. I can see a plume of smoke coming from a gazebo off to the side, and I know he's safe.

Rose's long red fingernails dig into my bicep painfully.

"Come on. I want you to meet Kate. She's absolutely—"

I'm already shaking my head and pulling out of her hold. I wouldn't be surprised if her nails left indentations in my skin.

 _Crazy, remember?_

"Not going to happen. Your matchmaking skills are horrid. I'm not going through that shit again," I tell her seriously. "I'm here for the free beer, and that's it."

Before she can reply, I head toward the keg.


	3. Chapter 3

**still don't own it**

 **big thanka to Sally (Alices White Rabbit) for the sprucing**

 **big smooches to my ficBFF JA MASH for everything you do**

 **3**

 **E**

The frat boys are still chanting for team red when I finally make my way over.

The guy working the keg doesn't look up from the tap.

"Red, yellow, or green?"

"What?"

He points to the surrounding crowd.

"This is a stoplight party. Red cup means you're taken, in a committed relationship. Yellow means it's complicated, and green means you're D.T.F."

I'm starting to feel my age. I ask him what D.T.F. means.

"Down to fuck, man. There's a line waiting, so choose your color."

"Green, I guess."

I'm passed a green Solo cup filled with cheap beer and immediately regret my decision. Like mosquitoes, there's a flock of girls at my side, proudly showing off their matching green cups and their ample cleavage.

I kindly rebuff their advances and make my way to the crowd around the beer pong table.

Team blue is a chubby dude, wearing just his boxers, and a big ass Indian motherfucker with tree trunks for arms. The dude's got tribal tattoos covering the entire front of his body from his waist to the base of his neck. Judging by the two lone cups in front of them, I'm guessing team blue is losing big time.

The bigger dude is taunting team red, who haven't dropped even one cup off their side.

Team red is a surprise, to say the least.

Two girls, one a wisp of a thing and one a walking wet dream.

They're both fully clothed—unlike the rest of the girls here—skin tight jeans, tank tops with flannels over them. Beat-up sneakers instead of the stilettos click-clacking around the concrete surrounding the pool and getting stuck in the turf.

The tiny one doesn't look like she's old enough to consume alcohol. The bright yellow headband—with a giant flower on her head—doing nothing to make her look like a mature adult.

It's the girl at her side who has my attention though.

Long brown hair, hanging loosely down her back and curling at the ends. Big brown eyes full of mischief and covered with too much black makeup. A silver ring at the corner of her mouth, glinting in the lights above our heads. A shirt cut just so, to show off a spectacular set of tits. Tattoos peeking out from her rolled-up sleeves.

I want her.

Both girls reach into a fishbowl, and each grabs a ping pong ball.

Everyone holds their breath as they tap the balls together, aim, and send them sailing through the air and straight into the remaining cups on the blue side.

"Drink up, motherfucker," my girl yells.

And the crowd goes wild.

The guy in his boxers can't stomach the final cup and rushes to the bushes while the girls take a bow.

By the time I look back to the table, they're both gone.

 _Fuck._

 **If you dont follow me on twitter PandorasFF or on FaceBook Pandoras Box Isheavy you should. As the story progresses I have a few manips Mashiepoo made for me.**

 **see you soon**


	4. Chapter 4

**still don't own it**

 **bless the betas! especially Sally (Alice's White Rabbit)**

 **4**

 **E**

I look for the girls for a good half hour before I work up the courage and ask a chick walking around with a tray of shots.

She glances at my green solo cup and smiles … _seductively_? I don't know; it looks like she has an epileptic seizure to me.

I'm yelling loud over the music blasting from the stereo on the second-floor balcony.

 _How do these kids even know who Candlebox is?_

 _Fuck, I'm old._

"… yellow headband, red plaid shirt with dark brown hair, lip ring?"

Recognition crosses her features and then utter disgust.

"Oh, you're talking about the legacies."

I must look like I have no fucking clue what she's talking about … probably because I have no fucking clue what she's talking about.

"They're sisters of the sorority but not by choice. Girls like them don't belong in our world, you see," she informs me. "Their mothers were both sisters here, so they got in because of blood. They refuse to conform."

"Uh. Okay? Well, have you seen them?"

She rolls her eyes and huffs.

"Check under the gazebo. Alice is a big stoner."

She asks me for my number, which I politely decline, and make my way over to the gazebo.

Now I'm not a prude or anything; I don't particularly enjoy marijuana. Sure, it's working wonders in the fight against opioid addiction and all that; I just don't like it.

It smells like cat pee, tastes just as bad, makes me feel wicked paranoid, and the last time Jasper talked me into partaking, I ate an entire family-sized bag of hot Cheetos. To this day, I don't think my stomach has fully recovered.

So I try hard not to breathe too deeply when I enter the gazebo area.

Immediately, my eyes burn from the amount of smoke wafting around such a tiny area.

There are a bunch of people sitting on the floor with various contraptions used to smoke pot, and smack dab in the middle, sitting criss-cross in front of Jasper, is the tiny girl with the yellow headband. It looks like they're kissing until I get a better look and realize she's blowing smoke into Jasper's mouth. When he can't take anymore, she takes a joint out of the inside of her mouth and smiles.

He's got his eyes closed and tilts his head back.

"Jesus, Ali, just kiss him already." a voice calls from the back of the group.

I look up, and my eyes widen.

She's taken off her flannel and tied it around her waist. Her shoulders and upper arms are covered in tattoos, her eyes still full of mischief. Sitting on the railing of the gazebo, flicking her lip ring back and forth with her tongue, and giving me a curious glance. In her hand is a green solo cup. It's my girl.


	5. Chapter 5

**I still don't own it**

 **bless the betas (Alice's White Rabbit)**

 **5**

 **E**

I'm suddenly a fourteen-year-old boy, shoving my hand in my pocket and trying to figure out how to break the ice with the goddess sitting across from where I stand.

 _Fuck, I'm thirty-one, and I'm not exactly living the life of a monk. You'd think I'd be able to approach a hot girl._

Her head tilts to the side.

I think she might be about to say something when Jasper sees me standing there.

"Ed, dude. You gotta try these edibles. Straight from Colorado. You can't even taste the THC." He holds up a sucker and a bag of gummy bears, and I can't help but laugh.

His eyes are so fucking red that he looks like a demon.

"Nah, man, you know I'm not into that shit."

A bunch of stoners start glaring at me.

Jasper stands up slowly and gives them some kind of signal to tell them I'm cool before turning to me.

"Then why the fuck are you in the stoner tent?"

"I was looking for ..." I look back to the spot where she was sitting and frown when I see that she and her friend have vanished once again. "Nevermind. I'm gonna go grab another beer. You want?"

He nods, and we make our way back to the keg. As we walk, I inform him about the cup colors and what they mean because he too has never heard of a stoplight party.

"Shit," he tells the guy handing out the cups. "I think after that shotgun I'm spoken for."

The guy hands him a red cup and refills my green one.

"I swear when that little chick leaned into me I have never been harder in my life," he tells me as we make our way around the pool. "I hope she wasn't offended when I asked her how old she was. I ain't about to commit a felony, you know?"

"Yeah, her friend is crazy beautiful."

I scan the crowd but come up empty.

 _Where are you, beautiful?_

We look around for a while, revisit the stoner tent, but they're nowhere to be found.

Emmett and Rosalie find us and tell us there's a dance battle happening in the house.

 _Theory of a Deadman_ is now playing; that can only mean girls are gyrating, and I am a man, so I follow them inside.

There's a large group crowding what I'm guessing is the living room area of the house. I peak over shoulders and see a flash of yellow. And suddenly, I'm pushing through the throng of people until I'm on the outer edge of a circle where girls are rubbing and pushing on each other.

My girl holds the little thing she called Ali's hips and grinds into her seductively.

Everyone's eyes are on them as they work each other over.

Girls look jealous.

Guys are practically drooling.

 _Fuck me._

It would be sexy as hell if they weren't laughing their fucking heads off.

Oh, who am I kidding? It's still hot.

I'm hard as steel.

As if she can feel me staring, she looks up, and our eyes meet.

She gives me a sly smile, releases her friend, and disappears into the crowd.

I try to follow her, but it's useless.

The remaining girls in the circle must think I'm interested because I'm suddenly sandwiched between four of them.

Luckily, my best friend sees me struggling and reaches into the crowded mosh pit and pulls me out by the collar of my shirt.


	6. Chapter 6

**still don't own it**

 **(A/N) I know some readers might not like this story with the update schedule, character's ages and lack of information given so far so I'm only going to say this once. I appreciate your opinion but I prewrite and run my stories through proofreaders and a beta before I post. The likelihood of me going back and changing something is nonexistent. So if you don't like something feel free to wait until it is finished or just don't read it at all. I have never held a reader at gunpoint to read my stuff and I'm not going to start now.**

 ***jumps off soapbox***

 **6**

 **E**

I'm heartbroken.

Well, you know?

I'm not really heartbroken. I've never even met the girl, but I swear it might be love at first sight.

 _Fuck._

I wouldn't know if it is because I've never experienced it before. My mom and dad were lucky though.

They've told their story so many times that I have it memorized.

Dad had just started his residency, and Mom had a mishap with her sewing machine and put a needle through her index finger. He says he opened the curtain, looked up from the chart, and he was gone. Mom nods and looks at him dreamily when he tells the story.

They were living together by the end of the week and married by the middle of the next month.

No one thought they'd last, but their thirty-fifth anniversary is coming up soon. They proved everyone wrong.

But back to me and my heartache.

Emmett and Rosalie—who are headed in the same direction as my parents love wise—decide to take advantage of the unlimited shots and parked their asses in the dining room area. Jasper's high started to wear off after he ate a couple of slices of pizza, so he went back to the gazebo. I asked him what he was going to do about his little thing, and he just shrugged said she'd find him when she was ready.

So that left me, moping and walking around without any sense of direction.

And deflecting mosquitos.

Those bitches are relentless.

I'm debating asking the keg runner to give me another cup—yellow, red, I don't care. Anything to get these girls to leave me alone.

I only want the attention of one girl, and I can't for the life of me find her.

I see the girl with the tray of shots from earlier, but she looks down and walks away. I think I might have hurt her feelings.

So asking her about the legacies would probably be a bad idea.

In a sea of dark clothes, glitter, and pink, I can't seem to find any yellow.

But girls like to change their clothes at events. Maybe tiny decided to change.

I get a refill, forgetting to ask for another color, and telling myself that three is my limit when a tray of shots is pressed up under my nose.

"No thanks," I tell the redhead.

"It's tradition. Greens take a shot at midnight."

 _Fuck, it's already midnight?_

I have to be at the office at ten in the morning. Why the hell my dad decided that we need to have a meeting on a Sunday is beyond me, but he's the boss. Soo …

I take the shot from her with every intention of dumping it when she leaves, but she stands there with an expectant look on her face.

I toss back the shot, coughing on the harsh taste of really cheap cherry-flavored vodka.

I decide to find my friends and tell them I'm leaving when I see Yellow Headband weaving her way toward the back door.

 _I guess I can stay a little while longer. I mean, my dad is the boss._

 **Edward finally gets to meet his girl next. See you tomorrow.**


	7. Chapter 7

**still don't own it**

 **EDWARD IS NOT PLASTERED! He's had a couple of cheap, mostly head beers and a shot of cheap vodka.**

 **7**

 **E**

When I finally catch up to Yellow Headband, the kitchen is deserted, and she's rooting through the freezer for something.

"Um, hi," I say.

She smacks her head on the side of the fridge and turns to me with a pained expression that quickly turns into a wide smile.

"Oh, hey. You're the shaggy one's friend."

"Yeah. I'm Edward."

"Alice ... You're looking for Bella, yeah?"

"Bella?"

"The girl who's practically glued to my hip. Long brown hair, tattoos; come on, dude, we all saw you eye fucking her during the dance off—"

I choke on my beer.

"And at the beer pong table … and the stoner tent." Her smile grows wider with each word, and I am so fucking embarrassed.

"Yeah. Okay. Guilty."

 _God, was I that bad?_

"Bella is upstairs. She'll be back down in a second. You should hang around and wait for her," Alice merely states and returns to rummaging through the freezer.

"I've been trying to introduce myself all night, but she keeps disappearing on me," I tell her.

"Oh, that's just how Bella is." Alice shrugs.

"Just how Bella is, huh?" a voice calls from the entrance of the kitchen. "Whatcha talkin' 'bout, Malice?"

I turn to find her. It's my girl ... _Bella_.

Alice's eyes narrow.

"You know I hate being called that."

"And you know I hate being talked about." Bella turns to me with a grin. "So what are we talking about?"

Up close, she's even more beautiful.

And short.

I'm six-four, and she must be more than a foot shorter than me.

Alice sighs.

"Tony threw our pizza pockets out."

Bella's face turns beet red, a perfect picture of fury as she throws the freezer door open, rummages around, coming up empty.

"That bitch."

She opens the fridge and pulls out bottle after bottle of this disgusting green liquid. I watch her walk over to the sink, turn the tap on, and start pouring the bottles down the drain.

"She's gonna freak out," Alice mutters. "Those things cost her like twelve bucks a pop. I think she has them flown in from Cali or something."

"Well, this will teach her not to touch things that don't belong to her. Won't it?" Bella asks innocently, her big brown eyes wide and her bottom lip jutting out a little. "Besides, she won't find out until tomorrow morning anyway."

 _Fuck. It's done. I'm in love, and she doesn't even know my name. We haven't even been properly introduced. I gotta rectify that problem, pronto._

"Hey, you," Bella calls, looking right at me. "Come over here and give me a hand, yeah?"

"Why not." I shrug and start opening the bottles.

We work together, pressed together somewhat. I realize that I was right. Bella's a foot or so shorter than me. She smells citrusy, like grapefruits and oranges and limes. It makes my head spin.

"I'm Edward, by the way," I tell her as she pours the last bottle down the drain.

She looks at me over her ink-covered shoulder, and I have to grip the counter to fight the urge to touch her.

"I know who you are, Edward. I interrogated Rosalie after I saw you talking with her and the beast."

 _Oh._

 ** _:D_**


	8. Chapter 8

**still don't own it**

 **8**

 **E**

Alice grabs a wine cooler out of the fridge and tells us she's going to find the blonde one and try not to jump his bones.

I tell her that his name is Jasper and that he's definitely in the gazebo.

"Thanks for the tip, bro. I'll find you in a little while, Bella," she says and disappears.

Bella grabs my hand, tells me she needs another beer, and leads me out into the back yard.

I follow her like a puppy and not the thirty-one-year-old man that I am.

 _Fuck, I should ask her how old she is._

She says something, but I can't hear her over the music.

She leans up on her tiptoes, pulling me down by the nape of my neck so she can reach. Her lips caress my ear, and I'm instantly hard.

"I fucking hate these parties."

I lean down and try not to yell too loudly into her ear. "Wanna get out of here?"

She pulls back, gives me a mischievous smile, and shakes her head negatively.

"Not yet," she mouths.

Another shot girl stops us, and Bella hands me one.

 _Fuck it._

"Fucking coconut." She coughs. "Whatever happened to plain vodka or a handle of Captain Morgan?"

I nod in agreement.

I hate coconut.

The keg guy greets Bella with a big smile and then notices that our hands are linked together. His smile turns into a grimace, and he practically rips my cup from my hands.

Bella rolls her eyes and squeezes my fingers.

"Thanks, Mike," she calls before pulling me back toward the house.

We find a spot that's relatively quiet, aside from a couple of stragglers.

Bella gestures for me to sit down on a plush chair and then parks her ass right in my lap.

 _Whoa._

"Do you mind? Seating is kind of limited at these things?" She laughs, wiggling until she's comfortable.

She's such a liar. There are plenty of places to sit in this room. But I'll gladly be her chair, indefinitely.

I know she can feel my body reacting to her, but she doesn't say anything, and neither do I.

Her hand finds its way into the hair at the back of my neck, and I think I might be purring like a fucking cat because of her touch. She also uses it as leverage to pull my head down to her level.

"So I feel like I know a whole bunch about you from Rosalie," she says.

"Oh, you do?"

"Yeah. You're thirty-one. You live with Jasper. You work for your dad at his manufacturing company. She says you're a good guy, just quiet." Her eyes glance up at my hair and then down to my eyes. "You've got hair the color of autumn leaves, and your eyes are so light green they almost glow in the dark."

I'm starting to think she's stopped talking about Rosalie's information and telling me more her personal impression.

"You are incredibly handsome and wicked tall." She runs her fingers up my forearm. "Your skin is a beautiful blank canvas. And your lips."

Her eyes focus on my mouth.

"What about my lips?"

Before she can answer, a flushed Alice rushes into the room, followed closely by a very baked Jasper. She's bouncing from one foot to the other in excitement.

"Bella, the party is almost over. Last call. Are you ready?" she asks.

Bella squares her shoulders and stands up.

My lap is instantly cold and empty.

"I've been ready for weeks."

She grabs my hand and pulls me outside and toward the kegs.

 _What is going on?_

 **I'm going to try really hard to maintain daily updates.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Still don't own it**

 **9**

 **E**

Alice says something to the guy running the keg, Mike, I think it was.

He's been there all night, so I'm starting to think the sorority must have paid him to stand there handing out beer. Or he drew the short straw.

He nods and pulls another keg up beside the one already in front of him.

Bella whistles with her fingers in her mouth, and the big guy from earlier at the beer pong table looks up from the chick he's talking to. Bella nods her head to the keg, and he pulls the girl over to us.

"You waiting until last minute, Swan?" he laughs.

"Yeah ... something like that." She lets go of my hand. "Edward, this is my childhood friend and spotter Jake, and the beauty next to him is his fiancée Leah. Guys, this is Edward."

 _Is it just me, or did she sigh when she said my name?_

We nod to each other, and I take Leah's hand in mine. For a chick, she's fucking strong. No kidding; her handshake leaves me flexing my hand at my side.

Alice is whispering in Jasper's ear, and he nods a couple of times before both girls bend over, grabbing the top of the kegs in front of them.

Jake and Jasper grab them by their legs and hold them straight up.

They grab the nozzles and put them in their mouths.

And all of a sudden, there's a crowd surrounding us.

Frat boys are chanting, and the sorority sisters look horrified.

Apparently, keg stands are more for the frats.

Everyone starts counting.

Alice taps out at thirty, and Jasper lowers her to the ground but doesn't let her go.

Bella continues.

Her eyes are on me.

When she can't take any more, she taps Jake's leg, and he helps her get upright.

Alice steps out of Jasper's embrace.

Both girls stand on their respective kegs, using both hands to flip the bird to the crowd.

"Fuck all you bitches!" Bella screams with a wild smile. "If you wanna find us, head to Main Street and look for Ink Well!"

"Take your sorority shit and shove it up your asses," Alice adds. "Legacies out."

She motions as if she's dropped a mic.

There are a lot of red faces in the crowd. The girls are pissed and maybe a little embarrassed. The drunk guys look impressed.

Bella jumps into my arms and plants a kiss on my unsuspecting lips.

The metal in her lip is cool against my heated skin.

It doesn't take but a second for me to return her kiss. We're both smiling into each other's mouths.

She tastes like cheap beer, cherry chapstick, and coconut. Not a combination I'd choose if given the decision, but I'll take it.

"Let's get out of here, handsome."

I nod.

"I have plans for you."


	10. Chapter 10

**I still don't own it**

 **10**

 **E**

When she said "let's get out of here, handsome" and that she had plans for me, she left the invitation wide open.

That shit could mean anything. I mean, I know what I want it to mean, but then again, I don't want this to be a one-time thing.

I let her lead me to a rust bucket of a truck, and she throws me the keys.

"I'm a little lightheaded after that keg stand. You know how to drive stick, right?"

I nod and open the door with some effort.

"Are you sure this thing is street legal?"

She rolls her pretty eyes and slides across the bench seat until she's practically in my lap.

"You should take me out on a date or something," she states with a nod.

I check my phone. It's almost three in the morning.

Fuck, looks like I'm not going to the meeting. Dad's gonna be pissed.

"Is now too soon?"

She smiles and nods her head, her hair brushes my arm, and I stall her truck.

She's gotta know how she affects me.

There's only one place you can go at three in the morning on a Sunday.

I pull into a parking spot in front of the local Waffle House, and Bella's smile widens.

"Is this all right? I don't have much to work with at this hour."

"I fucking love waffles."

Before I can be chivalrous and open her door for her, she's jumped out and meets me in front of her rust bucket.

She sees the scowl on my face and tells me. "I'm a big girl, Edward. Perfectly capable of opening my own door. I'm not into all that, holding the door open, being the first to enter a building sort of thing. I'm probably not like the girls you're used to."

"You're right. You are nothing like them. You're so much better." I tell her with a grin.

I grab her hand and pull her into the greasy restaurant.

We sit across from each other in a booth right by the window, our elbows rest on the sticky table, and we just stare at each other. It's intimate, whatever it is we're doing.

Bella orders her waffles.

I point to something on the menu without looking.

We both order coffee.

"I have a question for you," she says.

I raise my brow.

"What are you doing after this?"

"I don't know. Would it be too forward if I asked you to come back to my place? By the way, Jasper doesn't live with me; he just crashes on my couch when he gets too buzzed, which is frequent."

"I wouldn't mind going to your place, but can I take you somewhere first?"

I nod, and our food arrives.


	11. Chapter 11

**Still don't own it**

 **11**

 **E**

Bella is a messy eater.

She's also a food thief.

She smiles despite her cheeks being packed full of waffle, and there's syrup dribbling down her chin when her hand sneaks over, and she grabs a piece of my bacon.

Could she be more adorable?

"So, what are your plans now that you've quit the sorority? You have somewhere to live right? You aren't homeless now, are you?"

She laughs behind her third cup of coffee and shakes her head.

"I didn't just quit the sorority. Alice and I dropped out of college this morning."

I try not to look too surprised, but I fail miserably.

"Uh. What are your plans now? You said something about a place on Main Street?"

"That's simple." She steals another piece of my bacon and gives me a toothy grin. "We're going to be strippers. It's a lucrative profession, you know?"

Have you ever spewed hot coffee through your nose? I do not recommend it.

And I almost die of asphyxiation before Bella slides into the booth next to me and pats me on the back.

"Are you okay?" she asks when I successfully sip some water that our waitress was kind enough to drop by.

"I'll be damned if you're going to become a stripper, Sweetness," I tell her matter of factly. "You won't be taking your clothes off for anyone but me. Indefinitely."

I might be putting the cart before the horse or whatever that saying is, but she's gotta know. When a Cullen man falls in love, it's hard, it's fast, and it's permanent. Hopefully, Rose filled her in on that little tidbit during their interrogation.

She throws her head back and laughs a deep belly laugh.

"I was just kidding, Edward. But, I gotta let you know. This bossy, possessive Edward is making me wet, like my panties are destroyed."

I start choking again and tell myself that I will never be able to eat in Bella's presence for the rest of my life.

Which might be difficult seeing as I never want to let her go.

How long can you go without food?

I push my plate away, drop some bills on the table, and push her out of the booth.

She's still giggling as I lead her out of the Waffle House but stops when I press her into the door of her truck and attack her mouth.

She groans and moans and presses her body against mine.

Are those nipple piercings I feel underneath her thin tank top?

"We should go now." She gasps while I trail my lips and teeth down her neck.

"Where?"

She reaches in my pocket, lighting grazing my raging hard-on, making me moan.

"I'm taking you back to my place."


	12. Chapter 12

**Still dont own it**

 **my donation piece for the BATB compilation, Dang It, Bella will be going up sometime next week.**

 **12**

 **E**

It takes ten minutes to get to Bella's place, and it is nothing like what I pictured.

I pictured a studio apartment or a seedy complex. I mean, she did just drop out of college, so I'm not expecting a mansion or anything.

Imagine my surprise when I find myself sitting at 13 Main Street parked in front of a dark building.

Bella jumps out of her truck and waves for me to do the same.

She fumbles with her keys until she finds the one she's looking for and unlocks the front door with the words Ink Well etched into the glass.

That's when I remember what she yelled back at the party.

Again, it's nothing that I expect.

I figured it had something to do with books or writing.

Instead, there's a Steampunk aesthetic going on throughout, and there are two old fashion barber chairs set up on one side of the room. Different tools sit on the tables in front of the chairs and short swivel stools are underneath those tables.

Everything is neat and tidy.

There's hand-drawn artwork covering every inch of the walls and some framed pictures sitting on end tables in what I'm guessing is a lounge by the well-worn leather couches and small mini fridge taking up space in the corner.

I look back at Bella, and she's rocking on her heels, giving me an apprehensive smile.

"So I dropped out of college and opened my own tattoo studio. What do you think?"

"I think this place is amazing. You're an artist?"

She nods. "I designed every piece of art on my body."

I walk up and pull the strap of her tank top to the side, taking my first real look at the ink permanently etched into her body.

Her shoulders are covered with the night sky and dotted with different constellations. I easily recognize the big and little dipper, but the rest are a blank to me.

I run my fingers over each one, and Bella's breathing is shallow, content even.

"They're beautiful, just like you." I kiss the back of her neck, and she moans.

"It's a tribute to my dad. He used to take me out to stargaze every night the weather allowed. We'd pop a tent and drink hot chocolate, and he'd teach me everything he knew about the stars and planets. We were such nerds."

She pulls up the back of her shirt, and my hands once again find her skin. Every planet is etched along her backbone.

Bella shivers underneath my touch and pulls her shirt down.

"How did he pass? If you don't mind my asking?"

"Drug bust. They weren't very common for the tiny town we lived in, but he was on duty when they got the call. He was one of the first officers to enter the house, and they shot him. He died instantly."

A lone tear slides down her cheek, and she wipes at it as if she's angry.

"It happened a long time ago. I should be able to compartmentalize it. Lock it away, you know?"

"No, I don't know. I still have both of my parents, thank God. You shouldn't lock away your pain. He obviously meant a lot to you."

She nods.

"Now, I'm starting to get curious. Why'd you bring me here?"

She takes on an innocent demeanor.

"I just wanted to show you around ... but now, you got me thinking."

"Should I be scared of what you're thinking?"

"Depends. Edward? Have you ever gotten a tattoo?"

"No. Never had the urge."

"Hmm. Your skin is the first thing I noticed about you. Like I said before; you'd make a beautiful canvas. Do you trust me?"

There's no hesitation in my answer.

"With my life."

 ** _what is she going to do?!_**


	13. Chapter 13

**still don't own it**

 **You guys, if you don't like super fast paced, love, at first sight, please exit out now.**

 **Cause this is like super fast paced, love at first sight, stuff.**

 **13**

 **E**

I might be regretting my answer when I find myself shirtless, in one of the barber chairs that's flipped all the way back until I'm laying flat.

Beside me, Bella works with gloved hands, opening packages of sterile needles and pouring ink into little tubs. She doesn't talk as she works, and it makes me all the more nervous.

Until she's got a tattoo gun in hand and crawls into my lap, pulling the table with all of her tools on it toward us, and straddling my torso, her feet touching the floor.

Her big brown eyes search mine for something—I don't know what.

She leans down and kisses me until my head is spinning.

"Are you afraid?" She shifts slightly as she pushes on the foot pedal, and the gun starts to buzz loudly.

I shake my head.

"Do you trust me?"

I nod.

"Are you mine?"

"Are you mine?" I counter.

"Without an ounce of doubt, yes." She kisses me again.

"I'm yours," I tell her. "But please be gentle with me; it's my first time."

She snorts and reaches for ink.

I close my eyes and ignore the raging hard-on that turns to steel the first time the needle touches me right above my heart.

I'm not going to lie and say it doesn't hurt because it does, but it's a different kind of pain.

"Tell me about your family," Bella says over the hum of her gun.

"My mom and dad are an anomaly, I guess. She was a patient in the E.R., and he happened to be on rotation. They fell completely, head over heels in love with one another right off the bat. Love at first sight, you know? They married a month later and are celebrating thirty-five years in a couple of weeks."

She nods for me to continue, wiping my chest before going back to work.

"My mom's a seamstress; she likes to dabble in design—"

"She and Alice would get along great. Alice has a lingerie line on the side. She actually started it when she was in high school."

I grimace at the idea of my mother creating panties and bras with the idea of driving a man wild.

"Dad used to be a doctor until he got too invested in a patient. A little girl was being abused at home, and Dad tried to pull every string and favor he possibly could to get her out of her situation. He and Mom were actually at the agency applying to foster her when they got the call. Her mom's boyfriend beat her to death."

Bella's hand falters, and she knocks over a little tub of blue ink.

She's quick to fill it back up and turns back to me.

What started out as a sting has now turned into a pleasantly numb feeling.

"He resigned from his position that night and never looked back. He turned to manufacturing and built a lucrative business before Emmett and I graduated from college. I don't understand anything he actually does. I just work the numbers in my quaint, air-conditioned office above the warehouse."

"What about Em?"

"He chases Rosalie around for a living," I joke. "I'm kidding. They met at a car show. Rose punched one of the spectators for touching her ass, and it was end game. Our family has a bet. Mom thinks they'll be married by the winter. Dad votes that they will wait until Rose graduates."

"And you?" she asks.

"My guess is that they'll be married by the summer. We Cullen men fall hard, fast, and for forever."

Bella smiles a big toothy grin and goes back to work.

"You know, everyone, including my mother, thought Rose was out of her damn mind when she started dating a blue-collar man almost ten years her senior. She's always thought Rose was a bad influence on me because of how we met about a year ago." She snickers. "I wonder what she'll say when she finds out about you. She'll already be throwing a shit fit when she finds out that I dropped out of college and used my inheritance to get Ink Well started up."

"She should be proud of you. You're very talented." I point to the portfolio she showed me before she climbed on top of me and started marking me permanently.

I try to look down at what she's doing, but she tsks and uses one finger to move my gaze up.

Right into her cleavage.

My grip on her hips tighten, and I have to try really hard to keep from pressing into her heat.

I can feel how damp she is between her thighs.

At least, I'm not the only one being affected by this.

"I actually turned twenty-one weeks ago and got my inheritance, so I could have quit the damn sorority my mother forced me to join, but Alice has been working day and night to cover her portion. I told her it wasn't a problem—I have plenty of money, but she wanted to carry her weight. She's proud, like me," Bella explains. "Let me tell you, these last few weeks were torture. Knowing I didn't have to be there."

Before I can reply, she jumps off my lap, slathers my new ink with some petroleum jelly, and adjusts the chair until I'm upright.

She stares at it apprehensively.

"Keep in mind. I left it pretty generic, so it'll be easy to cover up if you don't like it or something."

She flicks her lip ring with her tongue, and I realize that's her nervous tick.

"Show me."

She pulls me to an antique full-length mirror in the corner of the room. The lighting is a little dimmer back here.

"Okay," she starts, pulling me down and standing on her toes to kiss me with as much passion that she can muster.

I wrap my arms around her hips and lift her so we don't have to struggle with our height difference, but she giggles and shimmies down my body.

"You might not be so enthusiastic after you see what I've done. I couldn't help myself."

"I don't think you could do anything that would keep me from wanting you. You didn't tattoo a dick over my heart, did you?"

She snorts, very unladylike, and shakes her head before turning me toward the mirror.

"Worse. I totally branded you."

I stare at the marred flesh over my heart.

A simple black B in gothic font with blue outlining it.

It's tasteful. Not too small but not overly large on the expanse of my chest. I can already picture the rest of her name there.

I should be freaked out. I mean, we've only been on one date and just met today, but I'm cool as a cucumber.

It's fucking hot. The thought of her branding me.

I don't think before I act.

She makes a surprised squeak when I pounce, crashing my mouth onto hers. She moans loudly when I pull on her lip ring before forcing my tongue down her throat.

Somehow, we find ourselves back in the tattoo chair, but she's on the bottom this time.

I'm working my fingers up her feminine curves, taking her shirt with them when she stops me.

"It's not that I don't want to. Believe me. I do. But Alice and I made a promise when we signed the papers for Ink Well."

I gesture for her to continue.

"No sex in the studio."

"Well, fuck. I guess we better get to my house quick. I don't think I can keep my hands off of you for much longer."

She giggles and pulls me out the front door.

 **Remember, this is fanfiction**

 **P.S. I delete anonymous reviews without reading them ... so really, don't waste your energy**


	14. Chapter 14

**Still don't own it**

 **14**

 **E**

Being an adult man, I don't exactly have what you would call a bachelor pad. No disco ball and Barry White at the ready in my stereo. No black silk sheets on my king-sized bed.

I bought this house when I was in my late twenties with the idea that one day, if I was lucky, I would share it with the woman I was meant to spend my life with. And maybe, one day, if we were both lucky, we'd start our family within these walls.

There are two nightstands in my bedroom, one on each side of the bed, and one of them is empty, waiting.

Of the four bedrooms, not including the master, one is set up as a home office, another a guest room, and the last two are empty, waiting.

I give Bella the full tour, skipping the basement because it's just storage and laundry. Also, it's the first time she's visiting, and that might come across as more than a little creepy.

We grab bottles of water from the kitchen, and the tour ends in my bedroom.

Bella kicks off her sneakers and sits at the foot of the bed.

She beckons me with one finger, pulling me to her when I'm close enough.

I bend at the waist and kiss her softly as she makes quick work of ridding me of my shirt.

Her tank top follows closely behind.

Her bra, if you can even call it that, is all lace and very little fabric.

"An Alice Brandon original," Bella tells me, flicking the hooks between her tits and letting the cups fall to the side.

"Damn, sweetness." I breathe, taking in her perfect breasts and her dark brown nipples adorned with cobalt blue rings.

She takes each breast in her hands and squeezes them together.

My mind immediately goes there. You know what I'm talking about.

I get rid of my pants and yank her painted-on jeans down her legs.

Something in Bella snaps, and she's almost feral as she pulls me on top of her.

Our kisses are different, desperate, as we let our hands venture, memorize, and roam.

Bella's ticklish but only on her right side, and there's a spot on the curve of her neck that drives her absolutely insane.

When I suck on my new discovery, she reaches into my briefs and grips my dick tightly.

I groan and press my forehead into hers.

I almost lose my load right here, right now.

"You okay?" she asks cheekily, her cheeks flushed with lust.

Instead of answering verbally, I shove my hand in her barely-there panties and rub her clit with the palm of my hand.

Bella arches off the bed and braces herself in the thick down comforter.

"Yes," she hisses when I find her drenched entrance and thrust two fingers inside.

"You okay?" I ask, echoing her previous question.

She has her head thrown back.

"More than okay. Add another finger."

I do as she asks—it's a tight fit. My palm is still pressed against her clit, driving her mad.

When she comes, Bella's entire body locks up, and she gives a low guttural groan.

I continue, not stopping until she goes slack with a satisfied sigh.

I'm ridding both of us of our underwear when she grabs my hand, sucking my fingers into her mouth.

Could this girl be any more perfect?

When she deems them clean enough, she release them with a pop.

I throw her tiny thong over my shoulder and climb on top of her.

"I'd suck you off, but I've got a super sensitive gag reflex, and I don't want to ruin the night by throwing up all over your cock."

I smile and kiss both nipple piercings before meeting her gaze.

"I'm pretty sure I can live without fellatio, Bella."

She giggles and wraps her arms around my neck.

"Fellatio? Edward, I think you're age is showing."

I rub my erection against her thigh and effectively shut her up.

I reach over her to get to my nightstand and grab a condom when she takes advantage of our position and licks her way up my abdomen.

My dick is so hard I think it could cut granite.

I politely ask her to give me a minute after I roll the condom on. She nods and lets me take a breath.

I will not blow my load the second I enter her.

She spreads her legs wide to accommodate my body and reaches for me with lust-filled eyes.

Entering her for the first time is like coming home after being gone for my entire life.

I bury myself to the hilt and stop to make sure she's all right.

Her eyes are closed, and her legs slowly move to wrap around my waist.

She's so tight. So warm. So wet.

She spurs me on, and we find a comfortable pace, stopping when it gets too much for me.

I want it to be good for her because this isn't a one-time thing.

Now that I've had her, she's all I'll ever want. Forever.

"Edward," she breathes in my ear. "I'm so close."

I take that as my cue to thrust faster, deeper.

Bella comes apart for the second time tonight, and she's a little more vocal than she was with her first orgasm.

"Edward!" echoes off my walls.

I follow soon after, rolling to the side 'cause I know I'd crush her with my lax body.

She grabs a tissue off the nightstand on her side of the bed and takes care of the condom before laying across my chest.

We're wearing matching, satisfied smiles.

"That was ... wow," I say to the ceiling

"Totally," she whispers into my neck, followed by a lick along my jugular.

We sit in silence for a little while, catching our breath and coming back to our bodies.

Bella surprises me by jumping up, using my chest for leverage. Her face is full of panic.

"Oh, my God. You don't think I'm a slut or anything, right? I don't do this. You just make me crazy. I couldn't help myself."

I laugh, and she doesn't think it's funny because she smacks me.

"I'm serious."

I grab her face with both hands and pull her to me.

"And I'm serious when I say that it's in my blood. Cullen men fall hard, fast, and for forever. Fuck, Bella. I let you brand me. You're pretty much stuck with me for life."

"Oh. Okay." She nods. "So we're on the same page then."

I shake my head at her absurdity and pull her down next to me.

I'm the big spoon. I kiss her all over her tattooed shoulders and run my fingers over her soft belly.

"Let's get some sleep, yeah?"

"Yeah, we've got the rest of our lives to figure everything out," she says sleepily.


	15. Chapter 15

**Still don't own it**

 **15**

 **E**

I enter Ink Well with a big smile on my face.

Ever since we met, I've been happy, not that I wasn't before. It's a different kind of happy.

Alice looks up from the client she's working on and smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes.

"Where's my girl?" I ask, my grin faltering.

She nods to the stockroom.

"Yes, Mom. There is a reason the partial tuition check was returned," Bella says, tossing a box of gloves across the room, a deep frown set in her face. "Yes, I dropped out. I mean, are you really surprised? I told you I didn't want to go to college in the first place, but you made me."

She hasn't seen me yet.

"Well, Gran left the money to me to do what I wanted with it, and I opened up a tattoo shop." … "Because I wanted to.

"Yes, there's plenty left, and no, I'm not giving you a penny."

I knock on the open door, and Bella turns to me and beams.

"Mom, I gotta go. My boyfriend is here, and we're going to finish moving my stuff into his house."

She pulls her phone away from her ear, and I can hear a woman screeching.

"If you're done, we've been dating for two weeks on Saturday."

Another bout of screaming.

"I'll talk to you later, Mom. I'll be pretty busy doing everything I can think of that will disappoint you, so it might not be anytime soon. Bye."

"Hey, sweetness," I greet, watching her stuff her phone into the back pocket of her tight jeans, and open my arms.

She steps into my embrace with an exhausted sigh.

"That woman is infuriating."

"She wants money? You never told me about that."

Bella shrugs.

"My gran left her entire estate to me, and Mom has been royally pissed about it ever since." She kisses me breathless. "So I was thinking that since I'm pretty much moved in, seeing that I don't have much, you should totally introduce me to your family."

In the twelve days since the sorority party, we've spent any time we've had available together.

When Bella's not down at Ink Well and I'm not at Cullen's Manufacturing, we're changing little things around my house to accommodate a female.

Our days are spent talking about anything and everything.

Our nights are spent together in some sense of the word. Fucking, screwing each other's brains out, or just cuddling after an exhausting day.

Dad gave me a lot of shit when I called in sick for that Sunday meeting.

He could tell I wasn't hungover and wouldn't let up until I admitted I met someone. Bella smiled between my shoulder blades when I told him I found my one. And then she went back to sketching whatever she was drawing on my back with a sharpie. She spends a lot of our free time doodling all over me with markers.

Dad made me promise to bring her around the house and told me he would only keep it from my mom for so long.

Bella must have heard him because she's been on my ass about meeting my family ever since.

It's not like I'm ashamed of her or our relationship or anything.

I fucking love her.

It's just that ... when Mom first met Rose, she monopolized a lot of her time in order to get to know her. I'm just not ready to share Bella yet.

Yeah, I'm a selfish bastard like that.

"Why don't we go pick out the paint for our bedroom instead?" I slide my hands beneath the fabric of her jeans and squeeze her bare ass cheeks. "And then we can get all messy together."

"Not a chance, Cullen. I've already talked to your mom, and she's expecting us at seven sharp." She straightens the collar of my shirt.

"How in the world did you get a hold of my mother?"

"Easy. Rose." She shrugs. "I gotta get back out there. Alice and I are tag-teaming Jake for a couple of hours."

I grab her arm before she can leave.

"Tag-teaming?"

"Yeah, he's trying to finish his back up, so we're working side by side—she takes a break when she needs one, and I take a break when my psychotic mother calls. There's not much left, so hopefully, we'll finish him up by the time we close shop for the night."

I follow her over to where Alice is working on Jake's massive back. He's laying on a massage table face down, gripping the padding above his head with both hands. Alice has her legs crossed and her tongue poking out in concentration.

"Ali, you need a break?" Bella asks, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I gotta piss like you wouldn't believe," Alice says, dropping her gun on her tray and practically running toward the back of the shop.

Jake chuckles and looks up.

"Hey, Edward, right?"

I nod.

"Bella can't shut the hell up about you. Tell me the truth. My girls aren't fucking anything up back there, are they?"

I take a good look.

There's a giant, realistic wolf's head between his shoulder blades surrounded by intricate tribal ink. The wolf is the only thing in color, the rest a deep black. It looks fucking amazing.

The girls do phenomenal work.

I tell Jake exactly that.

He nods and settles back onto the table as Bella sets up her station, completely scrapping what was there before for sanitary reasons. She loads a fresh needle into her gun, fills it will black ink, and starts working.

When Alice returns, she does the same thing, snapping on a new set of black gloves and setting up her station again before moving toward the wolf to do some more definition to the face.

The only sound aside from the buzz of the guns is a low hum of 2000's rock coming from a bluetooth speaker sitting on the reception counter.

I sit and watch the girls work, Jake wincing when they hit a tender spot.

It feels like we're there for hours, but after about an hour and a half later, Jake taps out.

"I gotta take a break, ladies. I can't feel my fucking bottom half."

They help him sit up and make sure he's stable before he stands up.

I'm ready to attempt to catch him if he goes down, but he manages to stay upright.

"I'm starving. Isn't there a sushi place right down the strip?"

Alice agrees but only if they can get an order of edamame.

I decline for Bella and myself because apparently, we've got plans.

My girl asks her friend if she can handle the rest of Jake's back after they eat so we can head home and get ready for the meet the parents thing.

"Yeah, go ahead. There's not much left to do, and he might puss out anyway."

Jake, who's on the phone placing their order, flips her the bird without looking up.

Bella and I run home. Her hands and arms are covered in spilled ink so she decides to take a shower while I debate calling my mom and giving her the talk.

Don't embarrass me.

Don't overwhelm my girlfriend. You know, the whole spiel.

"Hey, Edward!" Bella calls from the ensuite bathroom. "Can you bring me a pair of panties?"

She usually starts the day asking me to do this.

She likes me to pick out whatever scrap of cloth Alice has pieced together for her to wear so I can think about it all day long.

I rifle through the top drawer of the dresser until I find a pair of deep purple boy shorts and swing them on one finger as I lean against the door jamb leading to the bathroom.

She's towel drying her hair and completely naked.

She's changed her blue rings for a pair of lime green barbells.

Have I mentioned her tits are fucking incredible?

"What do I have to do to talk you into staying in tonight?"

She frowns.

"Are you ashamed of me or something? You seem hell-bent on keeping me from meeting your parents, and we're living together so—"

"I'm not ashamed. Not by a long shot. I just don't want to share you with my mother."

She looks perplexed.

"She tends to overwhelm the girls we bring home. Well, she overwhelmed Rose. I've never brought someone home before."

"Well, that's simple." She plucks her panties off my finger and steps into them. "I'm extremely busy down at Ink Well. That's not a lie. So unless she's interested in getting a tattoo or piercing or visiting us when we're in bed, my time is pretty much monopolized for the foreseeable future."

I nod, dumbly.

Bella pulls on a pair of skinny jeans with so many rips and tears that I'm surprised the fabric holds up. She shows me two different shirts. Both thin strapped, one lower cut than the other.

You know which one I chose.

Bella's already told me she's not into dresses and heels during one of our chats. That's fine with me; she could wear a burlap sack, and I'd be happy as long as she was.

Yeah, I'm totally wrapped around her dainty finger.

She steps into a pair of beat-up Vans, applies some glossy shit to her lips, and ruffles her hair out.

"What do you think?" she asks, spinning slowly.

"My parents are going to love you regardless."

I kiss her adorable nose.

"Let's go or we're going to be late."

 ** _okay i have a bunch of photos for the remaining chapters so you should find me on twitter PandorasFF or facebook Pandoras Box Isheavy_**

 ** _do people read fic on Christmas or Christmas day? should I take a break?_**


	16. Chapter 16

**Still dont own it**

 **Merry Christmas Eve**

 **(i gifted myself a Twilight tattoo)**

 **16**

 **E**

I don't know why but I stand outside of my childhood home, fingers laced with my girlfriend's, and ring the doorbell like a dumbass.

I have never rang the doorbell before.

Bella squeezes my hand and gives me a happy little grin.

I'm kissing that grin as the door opens.

"Edward Anthony Cullen, let the poor girl breathe," Mom says, swatting my chest.

And just as I feared, she grabs Bella's hand and pulls her into the house without giving me another thought.

I follow them inside, shutting the door behind me.

"Gosh, you are so beautiful. Your hair is so long. And look at that beautiful artwork. I used to stargaze as a child. Edward's a Gemini, if you didn't know."

Bella smiles and reaches over her left shoulder to point at a constellation.

"It's right here, and then here's Virgo, my sign."

Mom beams.

"They are just wonderful. Do you have anything else?"

Bella tells her about the solar system on her back, and I'm so embarrassed when Mom turns her around and lifts her shirt without another word.

My girl takes everything in stride. Her smile, so sweet my teeth ache, is aimed right at me.

"Esme, why are you disrobing Edward's girlfriend?" Dad asks as he enters the room from the kitchen, a mixed drink in his hand.

"Carlisle, you have to see this. Bella, who did your work?"

"Well, I designed everything, but my friend and business partner Alice made it real. She's very talented. We co-own Ink Well on Main Street."

She doesn't seem to mind my father taking a peak, humming in agreement with Mom about the beauty of the work.

"I saw them renovating a couple of weeks ago, and I wondered what was going up there. That's a very exciting venture, starting your own business." Mom nods to Dad.

After a few minutes, I pull Bella away from my parents and right her shirt.

"Enough ogling. When will dinner be ready?"

Mom's eyes widen, and she hurries off to the kitchen.

"Shit!" We hear her yell, muffled by the still-swinging door.

"Your mom just said shit." Bella laughs. "I fucking love her."

"She's going to be so upset. She's been planning this meal since Bella called," Dad says, shaking his head. "I've been to the store three times because she kept forgetting stuff."

"It's cool." Bella shrugs and enters the kitchen where Mom is fretting over something that resembles a lasagna.

She places a calm hand over Mom's.

"Esme, how do you feel about sushi? I know the best place. It's so close we could actually walk there. My partner was ordering sushi when we left the shop, and I guess it's been on my mind since then."

Mom wipes a tear off her cheek and gives Bella a warm smile.

"I love it, aside from the raw fish. I can't handle the texture."

"Me either. I have the worst gag reflex ever," Bella tells her.

My ears redden at her words, thinking back to when she told me she couldn't please me with her mouth.

Getting a hard-on in front of your parents is not ideal.

Bella convinces everyone to take the short walk to her favorite sushi restaurant. We walk ahead of my parents, hand in hand, swinging them back and forth while Bella debates whether or not she wants saki.

It's rare, but we both have tomorrow off, so I tell her to have at it; I'll drive home.

I hold the door open for her, earning an eye roll, and let my mom and dad enter first.

We take a booth by a big window, and we decide to let Bella do the ordering.

I'm surprised when a big boat filled with different kinds of sushi is placed in the middle of the table.

"There's no way we can eat all this," I whisper in her ear, making her shiver.

"You've never seen me eat sushi."

I watch her pack away a few rolls worth before she leans back, rubbing her stomach.

"Ugh, my food baby."

Dad spews saki across the table.

I'm glad I was finished eating.

"Oh, no, Carlisle," Bella cries, embarrassed, passing him a napkin. "It's just a saying. We're not. I mean, I'm not."

She looks at me pleadingly.

"Kids aren't on the table right now," I tell them. "Bella's business is just getting established, and we've only just started our relationship."

She grips my hand underneath the table.

That seems to appease the parents.

Phew, we dodged a giant fucking bullet.

I mean, my parents have never pressured Em or me to give them grandbabies, but I'm sure Rose will pop a kid out before Bella does.

I don't want to share Bella with my mom, let alone a child.

Dad and I argue over the check; he finally pulls the elder card and pays the bill.

On the way back to my parents house, Mom and Bella are walking arm in arm and giggling together.

They may have shared way too much saki.

"He lived in his Ninja Turtles costume for about half a year before I couldn't do anything to keep the fabric intact." Mom laughs.

Bella looks at me over her shoulder, and her nose crinkles when she smiles.

I stumble.

Dad catches my arm and pats me on the back.

"We're so glad you've found your equal," he tells me. "She'd never admit it, but your mom worried about you. Bella seems to bring you out of your shell."

I rub the spot over my heart. The tattoo has healed well, and Bella is so proud of it.

She tells me it's her most favorite piece, and I just don't get it. She's done some amazing work; I've seen it. Some of it is what she's doodled on my skin with a marker. Some of it covers the walls of Ink Well.

"She calls me her penguin."

"It's fate, Edward. You were meant to be at that party. I would never regret wasting all of those years becoming a doctor because it brought your mother to me." He shrugs and looks at me out of the corner of his eye. "Just don't fuck it up."

"I don't think that's even remotely possible. We're like yin and yang. She ends where I begin."

We get back to the house, and Mom pulls Bella into her craft room.

"I want to be the first person in this family to get a tattoo. I swear we're all a bunch of prudes. Let's rectify it. Design me something."

For the first time since we met, I witness Bella blush from the tip of her ears to the top of her tits. It might go farther, but I don't know.

I rub the back of my neck and break my mother's heart.

"Bella's already marked me." I state simply.

Mom glares.

"Let me see."

Bella smirks and walks toward me with what I'm now familiar with—her bedroom eyes.

I keep picturing Emmett wearing Rose's panties and nothing else to will down my erection as she slowly unbuttons my shirt and pushes it off my shoulders.

My mother gasps and traces my tattoo with one finger.

"It's beautiful, Bella. Very elegant."

Bella beams with pride and thanks her.

"You'll be my second Cullen. Just give me a few days to come up with something, and I'll give you a call," she says.


	17. Chapter 17

**Still dont own it**

 **Merry Christmas y'all**

 **17**

 **E**

"Your mom says 'shit'," Bella states when we're safely in my car. "And the word 'fuck'."

"So? Where do you think Emmett got his mouth from?"

She shakes her head.

We're at a red light, and I look at her expectantly.

"I said 'bitch' in front of my mom when I was seventeen, and she backhanded me."

"And that's why you're here with me and not with her." I run my thumb across her cheek. "You can say whatever the fuck you want and do anything you want ... except for the stripping. That's where I draw the line."

She chuckles.

I want to kiss her but the light turns green.

Bella puts her hand over mine, presses it to her cheek, and turns to kiss my palm.

"I blocked her number before I took a shower tonight," she whispers into my skin before dropping our hands onto her lap.

"And how do you feel about it?"

"Honestly? After meeting your mom and spending that little bit of time with her. Her unyielding faith and support about our relationship and Ink Well made me feel things. I felt more maternal love from Esme in a couple of hours than I've felt my entire life."

Before I can reply and tell her that I'm willing to share my awesome mom, Bella bursts into tears.

I pull over to the side of the road and take her face in my hands.

"I'm sorry," she sobs. "I don't usually let it get to me like this, but your mom is so amazing and welcoming and—"

I lean in and press my lips against hers. I can taste her tears, her anguish.

"You don't have to apologize for crying, Bella."

"I hate crying. It makes me feel vulnerable, and I hate it."

"I want to see all the sides you have, sweetness. The good. The bad. All of them."

She gives me a watery smile.

"I'm done crying over my mother and her inability to accept me for who I am. You're all the family I need." She wipes her eyes and chuckles. "Enough with the heavy. Let's go home and make out on the couch or something."

"I have a better idea," I tell her, pulling back onto the road and making a U-turn.

She questions where we're going and looks completely confused when I pull into a deserted grocery store parking lot.

"I can't give you a hummer, you know?" she jokes.

"I didn't bring you here for sex." I laugh. "We can go home for that."

"Then what are we doing here?"

"Simple. We're about to break the law?"

 **i drank too much. there might be another update tonight**

 **no promises**


	18. Chapter 18

**Still don't own it!**

 **Merry Merry Christmas! make sure you read the last chapter!**

 **Judi Wile this one is for you my dear!**

 **18**

 **E**

When I get her right where I want her, I lean down and whisper. "Emmett and I used to do this when we were younger. The last time though, we actually got arrested. Well, we didn't go to the station or anything; they just drove us home. Mom wanted to ground us, but Dad couldn't stop laughing, so we got off easy."

"I'm still a little confused."

"Just hang on."

I do a couple of stretches and try to remember the last time I've been to the gym. I'm going to pay for this tomorrow, but if it makes my girl smile, it'll all be worth it.

Bella shimmies a little uncomfortably.

I grip the handle of the cart I placed her in and start pushing until I'm running around the parking lot. Taking sharp turns and coming to abrupt stops.

I'm winded, my legs and arms are burning with exertion, but there's no way I'm stopping.

Her head is thrown back, and she's laughing so fucking hard she can't breathe.

I'm almost there.

My lungs hurt.

When we come to a stop by the car, Bella moves, making the cart scoot forward.

"Again, again," she cries.

"I don't think that's possible, sweetness," I gasp, placing my hands on my knees. "I think I pulled something."

"Where?" She tries to stand, but I grab the cart.

"Everywhere. But mostly in my left lung."

She giggles and steps out of the cart without much grace.

"Let's get you home, old man." She places me in the passenger seat.

By the time we pull into the driveway, I can finally breathe again.

Bella pulls her phone out of her pocket and starts typing furiously.

"What are you doing?"

"Texting Rose and asking her if Em's ever taken her shopping go-carting."

We share a laugh and stumble through the front door, depositing our shoes on the rack that Bella insisted we get when we went to Ikea.

Rose calls instead of answering her text message before we get to the bedroom.

I'm looking for a movie to rent when I hear Bella snort.

"Well, I can't help that my boyfriend is fucking awesome." She winks at me as she peels her shirt off. "Yeah, he always knows exactly what I need."

To prove her right, I toss her the shirt I was wearing before we went to meet my parents. She likes to wear my already worn shirts. I think she's a freak.

But she's my freak.

"No, I have not been practicing on a fucking banana, you bitch." She laughs. "Edward is very understanding in that department. I gotta go. We're getting ready for bed."

She hangs up without listening to whatever Rose was saying.

"Does your brother realize he's dating a psychopath?"

"Did Rose tell you she tried to hook me and Jasper up with her cousins?" I counter.

Bella's eyes widen.

"Tell me you didn't," she demands.

I nod sadly.

"I took Irina out for drinks, and she showed up at my house the next day with bridal magazines. The thing is, and Rose swears she didn't tell her, she somehow figured out where I live." I sit on the bed. "And when I slammed the door in her face, she knocked for two hours before she gave up."

Bella's mouth hangs open.

"Somehow she figured out where I work, which isn't hard, I guess. She showed up and told one of the guys downstairs that she was my fianceé. I locked my office door, but then she showed up at my house again. I had no choice but to call the cops."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, I ended up filing a restraining order, but Jasper had it so much worse."

I tell her all about Jasper's date with Tanya and her broomstick.

Bella guffaws, falling into bed beside me.

"Let's watch a scary movie."

I hand her the remote.

The beginning credits of whatever movie she chose are rolling when she presses pause and turns to me.

"So, if I come home after work tomorrow with a dream board filled with wedding shit and cutouts of our faces, you'll send me packing?"

I chuckle and kiss her on her crinkled nose.

"Nah, I'd pull out my dream board, and we'd argue over the details."

Bella looks at me in disbelief.

"You'd marry me tomorrow if you could, wouldn't you?"

I run my lips over the knuckles of her left hand.

"I'd marry you tonight."

"How can you be so sure I'm the one?"

"Because being with you is as easy as breathing. The thought of you not being right here, right next to me, is devastating. You're it for me, Bella. I'm not letting you go without a fight."

"No fight. You're stuck with me. I'm not insane or anything, but if you ever tried to leave me, I'd climb your body like a koala and just stay there," she threatens.

"Is that your way of telling me you want to sit on my face?"

The remote is thrown to the floor, our movie forgotten, and I show her the benefits of receiving oral.

For hours.

Sure, my jaw might ache tomorrow. It might be difficult to talk, but watching her writhe across our bed, screaming my name over and over again, makes it worth it.

She makes everything worth it.

 **before you say "oh, Panda, that isn't against the law..."**

 **I have 3 stoner friends from back in my Pizza Hut days that will vouch for me and a kick ass store manager that saved us from being arrested for theft of a shopping cart (we were in the same shopping mall) and vandalism (okay, we could have gone down for that one considering we destroyed a PH shrub).**


	19. Chapter 19

**Still don't own it**

 **19**

 **E**

" _Esme came into the shop today. I think you might want to talk to her because she's asking for a sleeve. From shoulder to wrist."_

"You're kidding." I chuckle, spinning around in my office chair.

" _Nope. I asked her what her pain threshold is like, and she told me she gave birth to Emmett's fat-ass head and shoulders without any drugs. She's coming back in like an hour, but she's really excited so that could be any second really. What do you think I should do?"_

"You never told me what you have sketched for her, so I don't know what you're working with."

I hear her fumbling around before my phone vibrates with a text.

It's a drawing of a pair of antique sewing scissors. Tasteful and elegant.

" _I found the picture online and added my own embellishments. It's perfect for her forearm,"_ Bella says.

"Okay, so go with this and see how she takes it. Then tell her you'll have to think about where to go next."

" _Gah. I knew there was a reason I keep you around. I'm gonna go set up my station. Love you."_

I smile like a loon.

"Love you too."

I go back to work, crunching numbers. The last thing I have to do is cut the payroll checks.

When I'm finished, I go downstairs and look for my dad so he can sign off on the checks.

I find him and Emmett having a serious discussion over a piece of broken machinery.

"You need to fire Alec because this is going to cost you a lot of money to fix, Pops," Emmett tells him, wiping his greasy hands on a dirty rag.

"What if I garnish his wages until he slowly pays for the repair?" Dad asks.

I know it kills him to have to let someone go.

"To be honest, I'm not even sure I can fix it. Let me have Rose come look at it before we make any decisions. She'll know what to do."

Dad nods and looks my way.

"There's my favorite son," he greets.

Emmett scoffs.

"Tell me some good news, my boy."

"We're still in the black." I look at the machine they were talking about. "For now, I guess. I brought you the checks to sign."

We leave Emmett and find a relatively clean space to work on, and I double check my numbers as he signs off on them.

"Your mother is down at Ink Well today. But I'm sure you already know that."

I nod.

"Did you know your wife had her sights set on getting a sleeve." I show him on my arm what she was thinking, and he laughs.

"Esme never does anything half ass. I'm sure Bella will handle it on a professional as well as a personal level."

"She's starting her off with something relatively small. It's going to be beautiful though."

"Of that, I have no doubt. Bella is quite the artist."

I agree with him and offer to go around passing out the paychecks because I don't really feel like going home to an empty house.

Dad thanks me and decides to head to Ink Well, just to make sure Mom isn't getting something pierced to go along with her tattoo.

Everyone is happy to see me, gleefully signing for their checks. I tell them to have a great weekend, knowing that I will. My parents are throwing a giant barbeque to celebrate their thirty-fifth anniversary, and Bella's rearranged her scheduled appointments to take the entire weekend off.

 **Esme's tattoo is on my facebook and twitter :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Still don't own it**

 **20**

 **E**

My mother is walking around the backyard proudly displaying the fresh ink on her forearm.

My girl did a great fucking job, not that I'm surprised.

As we all feared, it just fueled the beginning of Mom's addiction to the gun, as Bella says.

After talking with Dad, they agreed that it's her body, and she can do what she wants with it. Bella's working on sketching out a sleeve that they'll work on slowly. She's excited to spend time with Mom, and I'm happy that she's happy.

"I have a surprise for you later," Bella whispers in my ear before leaving me with my uncle Garrett.

"You got yourself a beautiful girl there, Ed," he tells me, watching my girl's ass in her tiny shorts as she walks away.

I don't care how old the fucker is, he needs to keep his eyes to himself. I punch him in the arm.

He rubs the sore spot and doesn't bother apologizing.

Bella's found my mom, and they walk hand in hand inside the house, chatting like they didn't just spend hours together yesterday.

Rose currently has Emmett pressed against the side of the house, and it looks like she's trying to eat his face.

Insane, remember?

My brother must have an appetite for crazy because they've been together since Rose turned eighteen. The entire extended family is waiting not so patiently for him to propose, but when asked, they just shrug it off.

Emmett said it just seems unnecessary and that they don't need rings and a piece of paper to prove that they're together.

Now that I think about it, maybe he is just as bat shit as her.

I wasn't lying when I told Bella I'd marry her in a heartbeat.

I'd ask her right now if I had a ring, and it wouldn't steal my parent's thunder.

The next time I see my girl, she's sitting on the counter in the kitchen, kicking her bare feet back and forth.

I'm coming back from the bathroom and can see her and my mom through the crack in the kitchen door.

Mom's cutting a giant watermelon into some kind of sculpture and pretending to be irritated when Bella steals a piece.

"So, Alice is actually going to help with your sleeve design. Her grandmother was a seamstress, and she has a lot of great input," Bella says. "We won't tag team you or anything. My friend Jake is a giant beast of a guy, and he's tapped out from the pain more than once."

Mom asks her what tag teaming means and agrees that it isn't for her.

"Alice is just darling. She asked me if I wanted to go out back and split a spliff with her while you were in the bathroom."

Bella chokes on a piece of melon and apologizes profusely.

"Oh, it's nothing, darling. Don't fret. Carlisle and I have dabbled ever since he left the hospital. I only declined because I didn't want you to think any less of me," Mom assures her with a pat on the hand.

"Esme, I don't think there's anything you can do that would change my opinion of you. You are an incredible mother and an amazing person," Bella chokes out. "My mother was never maternal or even remotely civil to me most of my life."

Mom doesn't even rinse her hands off before she throws her arms around Bella's shoulders and pulls her into a warm hug. She shushes her until Bella regains control of her emotions.

I'm glad because I don't think I could take her shopping go-carting again for a very long time. My poor body can't handle the abuse.

 _I really need to join a gym._

"That's the wonderful thing about the Cullen family, dear," Mom tells Bella, wiping tears off her cheeks. "There're so many of us that you'll never remember all of our names, but we're a very welcoming group. You became a member of this family the night Edward met you. You're loved and accepted here."

Bella gives her a watery smile and nods.

"Also, just think of this when you're doubting our loyalty," Mom says, going back to her watermelon sculpting. "We accepted Rosalie without question when Emmett brought her home, and you know how she is. The two of you are like night and day. How did you meet?"

Bella blushes and looks down at her lap.

"Before we opened Ink Well, Alice and I had a pop-up shop going. We kept all of our stuff in a trunk at the sorority. Somehow, Rose heard about us and came for a piercing," she explains, her face screwed up in a strange way.

"What's that look for?" Mom asks.

"Um. Her piercing was, you know?" Bella points to her lap. "Below the belt. We refused for a lot of reasons, but she kind of just kept showing up. I did her industrial in her ear. My mom can't stand her, but then again, she hates Alice as well."

Mom doesn't look phased by the whole Rose thing.

We're all kind of used to her by now.

Except for Bella, that is. When Rose tried to greet me with her usual open-mouthed kiss, my girl stepped in and told her if she liked her teeth in her mouth that she'd back the fuck up.

It happened in front of everyone in the backyard. Everyone was quiet, and then everyone wanted to meet my feisty girlfriend.

I might have taken her to the laundry room and done dirty things to her but can you blame me?

It was fucking hot.

* * *

 **i love Esme**

 **some have questioned Rosalie and Bella's friendship and now you know**

 **any guesses as to what Bella's surprise is?**


	21. Chapter 21

**Still don't own it**

 **21**

 **E**

Bella finds me standing at the grill a little while later.

Any sign of her emotional moment with my mother is long gone.

She smiles and wraps her arms around me, looking down at the food.

"I want that burger," she says, pointing to the biggest patty.

"It's yours. If you give me my surprise right now."

Bella looks around, flicking her lip ring back and forth in thought before sliding between me and the grill.

"Promise you won't freak out."

"I promise."

"Promise you won't attack me in front of your family."

"What the hell?"

She quirks an eyebrow, waiting.

"Fine, I promise."

Bella starts unbuttoning her shirt, and I move to stop her.

"If you flash me, I'm going to attack you in front of my family."

She laughs and shakes her head.

I let her continue.

She's wearing one of my wife beaters underneath the flannel—the same flannel shirt she was wearing the night we met.

She uses one finger to pull the collar of the shirt down, revealing my surprise.

"Fuck," I choke out.

"You remember the other night when I asked you to sign your name on that piece of paper?"

I nod. I remember because it was a sheet of college-ruled paper, and she drew little hearts and Isabella Cullen all over it. She thought she was being cute. I thought she wanted to screw. So I signed my name and threw the notebook across the room before getting her naked.

"So. I had ulterior motives behind that. Are you mad?"

I can't help myself. I grab her tit.

Right above her heart, in deep ebony, is my signature. Just like my brand, it's outlined with the same blue.

"Damn, sweetness."

"You like it?"

"Like it? Fuck." I take a deep breath. "Let's get married."

Bella drops her hands, hiding my surprise, and her mouth is hanging open.

Simultaneously, there's a wet thud, and we turn to find my mom standing over a destroyed watermelon sculpture with her hands over her mouth.

"Edward?" Bella whispers.

We just kind of stare at each other, having a silent conversation.

Her: did you really just say that?

Me: fuck, yeah, I did. Don't freak out.

Her: holy fucking shit.

Me: answer me now.

Mom finds her bearings, steps over the watermelon mush, and sidles up next to us with an expectant look aimed straight at Bella.

She closes Bella's open mouth.

"So, are you going to answer him?"

"I-I ..." Bella gives me a confused look, her face is white, and there are beads of sweat on her forehead.

"I love you. We're fucking perfect for each other. Why should we wait years to do something we can do right now?"

"Right now?" She gulps.

"Well, not right now. But we could go to Vegas and do it. We could be there by morning."

Everyone is gathered around us, expectant looks on their faces.

"We're at an anniversary party for two people who got married sooner than people deemed necessary, and it's been thirty-five wonderful years. I'm proud to be a product of that love. We aren't your parents, Bella," I tell her.

"You'd be okay with Vegas?" she asks quietly. "I mean, you have a giant family, but I have no one but Alice."

"Is that a yes?"

She jumps into my arms and kisses me with so much passion I feel my eyes water.

"Fuck, yes. Let's do it. Let's go to Vegas and get married." She gasps. "Then you'll never be able to get rid of me."

"As if I'd ever want to."

Mom clears her throat.

"Bella, I know you probably want something intimate, but Edward is my first and probably only son that will get married. I would really like to be there, if you don't mind."

"Of course, Esme. I need to call Alice. I can't do this without her. And I need to go shopping. And—"

I shut her up with a kiss.

"One thing at a time. Go call your friend."

She disappears into the house while my family descends on me.

 **some guessed it... sorry to disappoint that it wasn't her practicing on a banana**

 **i love these two**


	22. Chapter 22

**still don't own it**

 **22**

 **E**

I don't see my fiancée—wow, I really never thought I would ever say that—until everyone convenes at the airport for our red eye out to Vegas.

I'm surprised when Jasper shuffles through security. I'm not surprised when TSA takes him into a small room off to the side.

The dude always stinks of reefer.

When he finally exits the room, adjusting his pants and glaring at the agent, he sees our group.

"Edward! It's good to see you, man." He pulls me into a man hug. "Alice pretty much monopolizes my time when I'm not at work."

"No explanation is necessary. I've been busy too."

"I'll say. You're really gonna bite the bullet and marry your girl?"

I nod, looking around for her. She texted saying she was in the parking garage ten minutes ago.

"Of course, I'm going to marry her. Why else would we be here?"

"I just ... I knew you Cullens worked quickly. I just hope my Ali doesn't expect anything yet. I mean, I think I love her and all, but marriage is whoa." Jasper shudders. "Not ready for that shit."

"It's okay, Jazzy. I'm in no hurry to tie myself to you permanently." Alice giggles from behind me. "I need to keep my options open. I'm still on the fence whether I want to keep you around or not."

Somehow, they got through security without us noticing.

Bella's smiling so wide I can see her molars.

She and Alice are carrying stuffed backpacks and garment bags.

I offer to take Bella's, but she pulls it out of my grasp.

"Not gonna happen, handsome. This is my wedding dress."

"You found a wedding dress in six hours?"

"You sound surprised."

I shrug and kiss her for the first time in hours.

"I also got the rings. Hope you don't mind."

I facepalm.

"I didn't even think about it. Dad and I were hunting down a flight that would suit everyone."

Bella shrugs.

"I think you're going to like them."

"You picked them out. I'm sure I'll love them."

Emmett cuts in, gagging.

"Seriously, y'all. You've already locked it down, Edward. You can stop with all the cute shit."

Mom slaps him upside the head before Rose can do it.

"Leave them alone, you twit," she tells Emmett before turning to Bella.

"I loved both pictures you sent me. I can't wait to see which one you chose."

"You have pictures on your phone?" I playfully reach for her purse, only to be swatted away.

"I know how you are. I deleted them."

I pout until we're seated in first class.

Bella and I are the only ones out of the group who got seats up here because of the last minute plans. There were only two seats, and Mom insisted that the newlyweds get special treatment.

I pull Bella close.

She questions my motives when I pull her leg up and start sliding her boot off.

"Edward?" she laughs.

"I'm just checking for cold feet," I tell her.

"Mine are toasty warm."

"It's not too late to change your mind," I offer.

Bella looks me deep in the eye.

"What, now you're having second thoughts?" she asks. "Because you're the one who proposed all out of the blue, catching me totally off guard."

I kiss her calm.

"No, sweetness, I'm not having second thoughts. I was just joking." I zip her boot up and place it back on the floor. "I'm sorry if I upset you."

She chuckles nervously.

"Good because that would have sucked so bad. Remember that video of the couple breaking up on the delayed flight? We're stuck in the air for what, six hours?" She snuggles into my side. "I would totally pull an Irina and kill you. Stuff you in an overhead compartment. Your mom likes me, and Alice is always on my side, so I think together we could get you up there."

I laugh at her lame joke. I try to convince her to get some sleep, but she's busy doodling in her sketchbook instead. "What are you drawing?"

"Ideas for the next time I get you in my chair." She shrugs and goes back to work.

I point to a cute little shopping cart.

"Where the fuck do you plan on putting that?"

"Oh, that's for me. I wanna remember that night, so I'm going to get it on my side." She points to a spot under where her bra sits.

"What about that one?" I point to the green Solo cup.

"Probably in the same area."

"I'd like one of those too. You can pick the spot."

Bella nods and tells me to get some sleep because she doesn't want a cranky groom.

I rest my cheek on the top of her head and close my eyes.

And I don't open them again until we touch down in Vegas.

 **Gah. These two.**

 **Keep an eye out for Dang It, Bella. I'm hoping to have it up tonight.**

 **Dang It, Bella: Bella Swan's bad day just got a whole lot worse. Insert Edward Cullen, underneath her back bumper.**


	23. Chapter 23

**still don't own it**

 **23**

 **E**

The Cullen, Whitlock, Brandon and Swan-soon to be Cullen clan arrives with a bang ... literally.

Rose, who's brought the most luggage for a two-day stay than anyone else in our group, gets tangled up in one of the straps as she's pulling a bag off the conveyor belt and face-plants.

There are tears.

Some are from Alice and Jasper because they are laughing so hard they can't breathe, but most of them are from Rose when she realizes that she chipped a tooth. She crawls around looking for the lost piece for a while before it's deemed lost forever.

Emmett and Dad rush her off to the closest emergency dental place they can find on Google while the rest of us head to the hotel for a couple of hours of sleep.

Bella is sleep deprived and giggling as she re-enacts Rose's fall and the look of surprise when she realized part of her tooth has vanished.

"Did you see her face, Edward?" she asks, falling onto the bed. "Classic. I'm going to remember that shit forever."

There's just something about how happy she is right now. Or maybe it's the fact that she's marrying me tomorrow. I can't help myself.

I climb on top of her, straddling her hips, and start popping the buttons on her shirt.

"You aren't going to withhold sex until after we're married, are you?" I ask, getting rid of the lacy Alice Brandon original she's poured herself into.

"Nah, that's a stupid tradition prudes came up with to make us look like deviants."

"We are deviants." I pull my shirt over my head.

"Totally," she says, her hands finding the tattoo over my heart. "I wanna finish this."

"I might let you." I kiss her lips before trailing my mouth down her neck.

I stop to pull on her piercings with my teeth, earning a moan, before I lick the spot just above the waistband of her shorts. I make quick work of them and her panties.

"We're going to have sloppy pre-wedding sex." Bella gasps, arching off the bed when my mouth finds her wet and wanting. "And tomorrow, we'll have sloppy marriage sex just to keep up with our deviant behavior."

"Whatever happened to making love?" I question, giving her sex one long lick.

"When have we ever made love?" She giggles, grabbing me by my hair and bucking into my face.

I love that my girl goes for what she wants.

When she can't take anymore, I slip into her slowly.

"Go faster," she demands.

"No."

"No?"

"Nope. We're gonna make love. And you're going to fucking love it."

"I am?" She asks. "I guess you better make it worth my while."

She's moaning and groaning and screaming my name at the ceiling by the time we're done. It's almost too late for me when I realize I was barebacking it. I come apart on her stomach and collapse right next to her with a satisfied sigh.

"Sorry, I forgot a rubber."

She reaches for the shirt she was wearing and cleans herself up.

"We're not ready for a baby. Does that make me sound like a shitty person?" Bella asks.

"No. I agree. We've got a lot going on, and I'd like to enjoy my wife for a while before we bring a kid into our mix."

"I'm going to go to the gyno when I get home. I like the feel of you with nothing between us." She kisses me over my heart. "But I gotta tell you. That shit was hot."

"The love making?"

"Well, that, but I was talking about you coming on my stomach."

"I can't wait to marry you."

"Just a few more hours and I'll be Bella Cullen, forever."

We fall asleep with smiles on our faces.


	24. Chapter 24

**still don't own it**

 **24**

 **E**

Bella and I start our wedding day with a bang.

A different kind of bang than Rosalie's dental emergency yesterday.

Nah, we have mind-blowing shower sex before she pulls on a robe and goes off to find Alice.

I barely have my boxers on when I hear the keycard being used in the door.

"Come back for some more, sweetness?" I ask, turning around and blushing from head to toe.

"No, darlin'," Jasper drawls. "I've got a headache. I'm not in the mood."

Emmett pushes past him and into the room.

"We're here to get you sloppy drunk before the wedding since you and Bella couldn't wait a goddamn minute to get married, so we didn't get the chance to throw you a bachelor party." He pouts. "I got a handle of the Captain. Where are those little hotel cups?"

"I'm not getting drunk on my wedding day, Emmett. Feel free to get shitfaced, but I want to remember every moment of today."

He sets everything down, walks up to me, and proceeds to pull the waistband of my boxers out.

I swat his hands away and ask him what the fuck he's doing.

"Checking to make sure you don't have a pussy hidden in there," he tells me.

Jasper laughs and moves to the window so he can light up.

"I tried to tell him you wouldn't be interested in booze, but you know your brother."

I pull the black suit, that Bella spent an hour steaming this morning before our shower, out of the closet.

Time seems to fly by.

One second my friend and my brother are laughing at me meticulously running a lint roller over my suit, the next I'm standing at the end of the aisle ... waiting.

I don't know if it was luck or if Bella threw a lot of cash at the hotel to let us use their private garden on such short notice.

A lot of things about today scream "expensive", but as long as my wife is happy, I'll let her do whatever she wants. My wife.

A violinist and a woman with a guitar are sitting off to the side.

As soon as Alice and Jasper are in view, the musicians pluck a few chords on their instruments until our friends take their sides of the aisle.

When a beautiful instrumental cover of John Legend's _All of Me_ starts and I see a vision standing there, I'm biting my knuckle to hold back my emotions.

Like most things with Bella and me, she's chosen to forgo a traditional dress.

Instead, she's wearing a short black dress with a pretty lace pattern all over it and heels. I've never seen her in heels before.

Her hair is up, but there are strands hanging down, and she's not wearing a veil. I'm guessing because a black veil would be a little morbid.

But, God, my girl is crazy beautiful.

She's smiling a mile wide as she makes her way to me, placing her small hand in mine.

The music stops.

Mom is bawling her eyes out. I can hear her, but I can't look away from Bella.

"I love you," she mouths.

"I love you," I reply.

The justice of the peace starts her thing, but I don't hear a word of it.

All I can focus on is my girl and our future that we're going to spend together.

When it's time for vows, I clear my throat and squeeze Bella's hands.

"From the first moment I saw you, I knew I wanted you. And the little bit of time we've shared has been crazy in the most wonderful way. You complete me. You make me want to be a better man." I have to clear my throat again. "I can't promise you I won't screw up or forget to pick up milk on the way home from work, but I can promise you this. You and me, sweetness. We're forever. This I vow to you."

I slide a uniquely beautiful band on her ring finger and kiss it.

An inky black tear streaks down her cheek, and I catch it before it can fall.

"Whoa, how in the hell am I supposed to top that?" She sniffles. "Just like you, I too knew you were special the second I laid eyes on you. I knew you were mine. When I look into your eyes, I see love and truth and our future, and, baby, it's fucking brilliant. We were written in the stars my dad used to teach me about."

She takes a deep, calming breath and continues.

"You understand me on a level I didn't even know existed. You let me draw on you with permanent markers in bed and don't bat an eye when I eat cereal with coffee creamer." She squeezes my fingers. "I can't promise you that I won't get held up at work and forget important events because we both know my memory is shit. But I can promise you that you are it for me, for as long as I live and then some more. This I vow to you."

A thicker band is placed on my finger, and she gives it a small kiss.

We go through the motions, and finally, it's time to kiss my ... wife. MY WIFE.

Our lips meet, and it's different than any other kiss we've ever shared. It means more somehow.

We're introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Edward Anthony Cullen, and my life has changed forever.

 **Bella's dress is on my social media accounts. JA Mash really did a great job with her.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Still don't own it**

 **sorry for the delay...**

 **25**

 **E**

"Hands down, married sex trumps all of the other kinds of sex." Bella gasps, rolling off of me.

I reach over and grab at her.

I'm not happy until she's laying half on me, half off.

Our left hands are resting over my heart, and I ask her about the rings she chose.

"Cobalt blue because of our tattoos and meteorite. I figured it was fitting for us."

"Fucking perfect is more like it." I kiss the top of her head. "Did I tell you how beautiful you looked in your wedding dress?"

I feel her nod.

"I wanted something nice but I also wanted something that felt more like me. You know I hate dresses and girly shit."

I squeeze her.

"I really like the heels."

"I know. I'm pretty sure you're going to have bruises on your back." She giggles.

Yeah, our first tryst as a married couple was straight-up fucking. I made her leave the heels on, and it was painful as they dug into my back, but I wouldn't change a thing. It was perfect.

Just like us.

When we finally exit the room, we both look thoroughly fucked.

Bella couldn't get a brush through her hair, so she threw it up into a messy bun; our clothes are wrinkled, and our necks are covered in love bites.

We're meeting our family and friends for brunch before we head to the airport.

As soon as they see us, they start clanging their glasses with silverware, meaning that we have to kiss.

When we part, Mom practically pulls her new daughter-in-law onto her lap when we get to the table.

I calmly take a seat beside my wife, and someone else clanks their glass. We share a kiss before Bella turns back to Mom.

No one says anything, but I can see their eyes take in our well-loved appearance.

Emmett manages to keep his dirty thoughts to himself, and Rose is just happy to have a cap on her chipped tooth. We weren't really expecting much from them; they just came along for the gambling, I think.

It becomes a game. I spend most of brunch kissing my beautiful wife, not that I'm complaining.

Dad throws his arm around my shoulder and tells me I can take the next five days off. But I'll need to stop in and cut payroll checks because he's clueless.

Another kiss, this time with tongue and lasts so long that someone clears their throat to break us apart.

Alice and Jasper are eating everything in sight, having stopped at one of the dispensaries dotted along the strip this morning. I couldn't pick a better girl for my best friend if I tried.

"Did you tell Edward your idea?" Mom asks Bella, pushing a bowl of watermelon to her. "With your dress?"

"No. We haven't really had a chance," she says, like we haven't spent the entire time since the wedding doing dirty things.

"Well, show him."

Bella reaches into her backpack and pulls her sketchbook out, flipping through until she finds what she's looking for.

"I thought it would be cool to do a cuff on your bicep with the pattern from my dress." She flicks her lip ring back and forth. "I mean, if you wanted to. It's not that big of a deal."

"When we go back to work, I want it." I point to it and make a request. "About half an inch thicker."

"Biceps hurt, you know? That is a pretty big piece."

"I can take it."

She mutters something under her breath and puts her book away.

"Did Bella tell you that I made her a new line of lingerie for your wedding present?" Alice asks with a mouth full of food. "I spent a lot of time on it since she called yesterday, and I'm not entirely finished; just try not to rip it off her body, yeah?"

I look around the table, and no one seems phased by the conversation. Mom and Dad don't seem to care that my sex life is prime subject.

"I can't make any promises, Alice," I tell her. "When do you have time to make clothes, by the way?"

She shrugs. "I don't sleep. Too addicted to caffeine," she explains and feeds Jasper a big ass bite of pancake from her fork.

"What are you planning on doing for your honeymoon?" Rose asks after checking her teeth in a compact mirror.

"Nothing," Bella and I say at the same time.

Everyone looks shocked.

"I might bring my kit home and ink the hell out of my husband, but I think we're going to spend the five days we've been given at home. I might try talking Edward into getting a cat."

"You never told me you wanted a cat."

"Well, now you know. I want a cuddle buddy."

I pout.

"I'm your husband—you have a built in cuddle buddy."

"I can see this is going to take a lot of bribing." She sniffs indignantly. "I'm going to break out some of Alice's wedding presents early."

"Damn straight. I'm talking the whole line if you think I'm getting a furball that shits in abox." I pop a grape in my mouth.

"You can train them to use the toilet, you know. I've done my research."

"Okay, kids. Let's not make this your first fight as a married couple." Mom tsks. "We should head to the airport so we can make our flights though."

Rose and Emmett argue over the fact that Bella and I are getting the first-class seats again.

The newlyweds win.

 **rings will be up as soon as I get to a computer. right now im scrambling to pack because we are headed to Tampa for the birth of my first nephew! baby Kratos i coming!**


	26. Chapter 26

**I'm so sorry this is so late I was busy becoming an aunt for the first time. I have promised pictures and I have them on my laptop so before tomorrow's update I will put them up on my social media accounts :)**

 **26**

 **E**

"Ouch, Bella. That hurts," I tell her, shimmying to try to get comfortable. "Let's try a different position."

She quirks an eyebrow and uses one gloved hand to pull at the bow between her breasts, letting them fall out of the barely there lace fabric.

"Still uncomfortable?" she asks innocently.

"Nope, continue torturing me."

I hold my arm at an awkward angle and try not to tense up when the needle meets the tender muscle side of my bicep.

Wifey wasn't kidding when she said she wanted to tat me up.

She's wearing a pair of see-through panties, and she's straddling me like she did the night we met.

"You know I'm breaking so many rules right now. Most of them are sanitary reasons," she murmurs over the hum of her gun.

"Hey, it's our honeymoon. We're allowed our liberties." I wince when she hits a particularly sensitive spot.

I could say we were close to finishing, but that would be a lie.

I refuse to tap out.

Her tongue flicks her lip ring back and forth as she moves to look at her dress hanging over the back of the couch to make sure she's getting the pattern perfect and then back to torturing me.

"MEOWWWWW"

I give Andromeda the stink eye.

That little shit still hasn't learned to use the toilet as her litter box. Bella says it takes time, but I ain't buying it.

She's beautiful; I'll give her that. All white and a little cross-eyed with the bluest eyes.

Bella saw her in the shelter, and I knew the second the volunteer put her in my girl's arms we now owned a fucking cat.

"Go away, cat!" I swat her away, but she thinks my hand is a toy and grabs a hold of it.

Unfortunately, and it broke Bella's heart, Andromeda was declawed before she was surrendered to the shelter.

No animal should ever have to go through that pain.

What she lacks in claws, she more than makes up for with her teeth.

I'm prying my pinky out of her mouth when Bella asks if I want to take a break.

I'm not even going to try to be tough like her friend Jake. I need to take a leak and maybe a shot of whiskey, and we aren't even halfway done.

Bella's waiting outside of the bathroom with a shot glass because she always knows what I need. I toss it back and breathe through the burn.

"So, I heard that endorphins can help with pain," she states, pulling the drawstring of my sweats. "And while I can't give you a blowey. I thought you'd appreciate your wife giving you a handy."

Before I can reply, she's shoved her hand down my pants and taken my erection in her small hand.

I moan and lean against the wall behind me.

"I really wish I could take you in my mouth. To feel you slide down my throat." She groans against my lips, her hand working me over. "I bet you taste phenomenal."

Her fingers are so soft and warm, and it doesn't take long before I'm messing my pants.

She wipes her hand on my sweats and tells me there is a fresh pair waiting for me on the bed.

My wife is perfect.

We attempt to finish the band on my arm, but after Bella slips out of the top of her lingerie set, we end up in the bedroom, tattoo forgotten.

Time is moving too fast. We only have three days left of our "honeymoon", and I hate it.

But I know Bella loves her work and that my dad needs me down at the warehouse.

Our bubble will pop soon, but we're still going to be together. Still be married.

When we're sated and Bella's kissing all over her _B_ on my chest, she brings up a touchy subject.

"So Alice and I made a sort of postcard announcement while we were hanging out in the hotel. I don't know if she sent it to my mom, but knowing Malice, she probably did. She hates my mom."

"Are you expecting a response?"

"Honestly? Probably not. She can't call us at Ink Well, and I doubt she'd travel all the way out here to yell at me for disappointing her."

We fall into an easy sleep. Andromeda finds her way to the foot of the bed despite the three fluffy pillows we bought her that are placed all over the house.

 _Damn cat._


	27. Chapter 27

**Still don't own it**

 **pictures are up on my twitter and facebook**

 **27**

 **E**

Reality comes crashing down on us three weeks after our impromptu Vegas wedding.

We slowly have to get used to each other.

Bella gets pissed off when she finds me eating the last yogurt. I rectified that shit by spoon feeding her the last half while she sits on my lap.

I try not to snap her head off when she forgets a load of laundry in the washer for two days. She cries in frustration when the clothes still smell like mildew after three washes. I tell her we'll buy new clothes. She tells me that the shirt she was wearing when we met was in that load.

I promise that we'll make more clothes memories.

Bella is a fucking monster when she's on her period. A moody, Reese's peanut butter cup inhaling, lazy monster who doesn't shave for the entire week. It's like sleeping with a constantly pissed off porcupine.

I forget to put the toilet seat down. Bella makes me use the hall bathroom after she falls in first thing one morning.

Bella refuses to rinse out her coffee cup when she's finished. She leaves it half-full in the sink, and when I dump it, there's a ring that I have to scrub before I put it in the dishwasher. I bring home a package of disposable coffee cups.

It's little things, but we find our way through the ups and downs.

The ups definitely outweigh the downs.

Like when Bella gets off before me and I find her naked, wearing nothing but a smile.

Those times, neither of us want to cook, so we order way too much food and have a picnic in bed with Andromeda stealing bites.

When we sit in front of the TV and create our own drinking games, waking up to find books stacked on the coffee table at different heights and spare change everywhere.

Our version of drunken quarters is a favorite. We play that one when we have the time.

My girl is a sloppy, touchy-feely kind of drunk. I gladly reap the benefits of that fact.

We double date with my brother and Rose; they keep things interesting, to say the least. Sometimes, we meet up with Alice and Jasper when they're available. It usually ends up at a restaurant because they always have the munchies.

We even doubled with Mom and Dad. We went to a see a horror movie. It was my mom's idea because she knows Bella likes them. Dad told me that Mom made him check the closet before they went to bed that night.

And then one Monday morning, an unfamiliar number calls my phone while I'm at work.

"Hello?"

" _You need to get down to Ink Well, pronto,"_ Alice whispers.

I can clearly hear yelling in the background, and I've got my keys and I'm flying down the stairs in seconds.

"What's going on?"

" _Her mom showed up while she was picking up lunch. I thought she was a client because she asked for Bella, so I told her to wait in the lounge. They're screaming, and I had to reschedule my client and lock the doors. Just get here, Edward. I think she might hit her."_

"You tell that bitch if she lays one hand on my wife, I'll have her arrested!" I practically scream, pushing my car toward eighty.

" _No, if Renee says one more thing about you, Bella's going to hit her. Hurry—"_

She hangs up as I reach Main Street, practically parking on the sidewalk in front of the shop. I might have taken out a few hedges.

Alice meets me at the door and lets me in.

"You can't marry a man you've just met. We'll get it annulled, and you can come home. I'm sure you can sell ... this." She waves her hand around with a look of disgust on her wrinkled face.

This woman looks nothing like Bella, but that's not surprising. She told me she took after her grandma on her father's side.

This woman is pure evil. I can feel it radiating off of her.

"No," Bella says between clenched teeth. "I'm an adult, and I can make my own decisions."

Her fists are balled up at her side.

"No? Isabella, you are twenty-one. I'm sure you think this is some kind of fairytale, but you need a reality check. You can find that at home. With me."

"Her home is with me," I say confidently, walking toward Bella, but she shakes her head.

Renee turns and dismisses me just as quickly.

"How old is he? Christ, Isabella."

"It doesn't matter how old he is, Mother." Bella rolls her eyes. "We love each other, and everyone can see that, except for you. That announcement was meant to let you know that I got married. It wasn't an invitation to come down here and try to change my mind. It won't work. I'll always choose him, every single time."

"I am your only living family, Isabella," Renee spats. "Do you really want to write me off?"

"Yes. Because the Cullens have been more of a family in the past two months that I've known them than you ever have. They support Edward and I. They believe in my dream." Bella closes her eyes for a moment and then opens them, a new look of determination on her face. "Leave my business, Renee. Go home. You aren't welcome here. This is the last time I ever want to see you."

The woman looks taken aback.

"Isabella—"

"Ever!" Bella screams. "You've done this to yourself. You will miss out on our beautiful life. You won't see us on our fifth anniversary. You'll never meet your grandchildren, never get to watch them grow up. Just go."

With that, she turns and stomps to the back of the shop, flipping a tray of instruments over on her way. Everyone jumps at the sound of the crash they make as they hit the floor.

Renee doesn't say anything, just stands there open-mouthed before straightening her pantsuit.

She starts for the door before acknowledging me.

"When this implodes and you break her heart, I want you to tell her that I won't be here to pick up the pieces."

"My wife was kind in asking you to leave. Unfortunately, I'm not as nice." I point to the door. "Get the fuck out and don't ever show up here again."


	28. Chapter 28

**Still don't own it**

 **sorry for the delay**

 **28**

 **E**

I'm sitting outside of the bathroom at Ink Well, leaning against the door, and my head is hanging between my knees.

I have never felt so helpless.

I can hear her crying and the sound of flesh hitting stone.

"Sweetness, please don't ruin your hands; they're your instruments," I say loud enough for her to hear me. "Don't let her win."

I'm pretty sure I hear the metal trash can hit the wall and clatter to the floor before she slides down the door on the other side of me.

"Tell me what you need, Bella. I can't figure out how to make this better, and I'm lost. Please?"

"I need my mom to be my fucking mom," she croaks. "That's what I need right now."

I get a genius idea and pull out my phone.

She's here within twenty minutes, a soft, heartbreaking look on her face.

"I'll take it from here, Edward. Why don't you head home, and I'll drop her off when we're finished," Mom tells me.

I try to argue, but she gives me the _mom_ look, and I leave the building with my head hanging low.

When I get home, I'm at a loss.

What to do now?

It's Monday, so Bella usually changes into one of my old, stained button-downs and a pair of my boxers and cleans the whole house.

I roll my sleeves up and grab the mop and bucket.

It might not be the greatest work but I don't want her to feel like she has to do anything when Mom eventually brings her home.

Our home.

Not back in Phoenix with that vile woman.

Here with me. Where I can glue her pieces back together the best way I can.

Hours later, I'm watching the clock as I scrub and clean, and Bella still isn't home.

I'm worried and Mom is ignoring my calls.

Andromeda is sitting by the door, her snowy white tail twitching back and forth, waiting.

"You and me both, girl."

When I think I've cleaned everything and I've changed the sheets and comforter on our bed, I decide to take a shower.

It's when I'm in the solitude of my shower, with the steaming hot water blasting down on my back, that I lose it. When she hurts, I hurt, and I know my girl is in agony right now. Knowing that there's nothing I can do about it is killing me.

I'm crying against the cold tile when I feel a familiar set of arms wrap around my middle. Her hands clasped together above my heart. She peppers my back with kisses.

"You're too handsome to feel so much sorrow, babe," is whispered against my flesh.

I turned around and pick her up, squeezing the hell out of her.

Her face is blotchy and her eyes are bloodshot, but she's still fucking beautiful.

She's mine.

After I've kissed her thoroughly, gripping her ass and picking her up until she's wrapped her legs around me, I press my forehead against hers and stare into her beautiful eyes.

"How are you, sweetness? Really?"

"I'm hurting a lot, but Esme really helped." She gives me a watery smile. "Thank you for calling her."

"You needed your mom. It was simple." I shrug. "I cleaned the house for you."

She laughs and slides down my body.

"And I thank you for that. But you do realize there's floor cleaner under the kitchen sink? I don't use bleach for everything. I opened all of the windows downstairs because it smelled so strong. What did you do before you had me?"

I chuckle.

"Before you, I had a cleaning service come in every two weeks. I'm kind of at a loss when it comes to homemaking shit."

She grabs my body wash and starts cleaning me from top to bottom.

After a day like today, I don't even pop a boner when she drops to her knees.

I take my time washing and conditioning her hair.

When we get out of the shower, I gently towel it dry because I know she hates using a blow dryer.

By the time we get to bed, we're both exhausted.

I offer her my T-shirt from earlier, but she just shakes her head and slides under the covers.

After I put on a pair of boxers, I pop downstairs to make sure everything is locked up. I close all of the windows Bella opened and grab Andromeda.

I place the cat on the bed, and she immediately seeks out the Bella-sized lump on the bed. She lays at the foot of the bed and gives me a look like—" _Okay, get in and comfort her."_

It isn't until I'm settled in bed that I feel how bad it's shaking with Bella's silent sobs.

I pull her to me and let her cry it out until she falls into a fitful sleep.

I don't sleep a wink.


	29. Chapter 29

**Still don't own it**

 **29**

 **E**

It's a week later and everything seems to be back to normal, for the most part.

Dad finds me crunching numbers and sipping coffee like it's going out of style.

"You look like shit," he says, sitting in the utilitarian chair on the other side of my desk.

"I haven't been sleeping," I confess. "Bella swears she's okay. That she won't shed another tear over her mother, but she cries in her sleep in the middle of the night."

Dad nods his head thoughtfully.

"Have you considered having her talk to someone? I'm not talking about you."

I shrug.

Bella doesn't exactly come off as the type of person to take the subject of therapy well. She's too fucking proud sometimes.

"You should talk with her. Don't insist that she go, just bring it up and ask her if it's something she could benefit from." Dad gives me a wrinkled smile. "Tread lightly though. You're handling live dynamite."

"Thanks, old man."

I finish up for the day and call my girl to see if she wants to meet for a late lunch.

" _Can't, Alice and I finished your mom's sleeve plans, and we're waiting for her to get here to see if it fits. It's the first time I'll be using a stencil. I really like to free hand when I can."_

She sounds happy.

I wonder if tonight would be a good time to talk to her about seeing someone.

"Okay, don't worry about dinner. I'm thinking of making spaghetti."

" _That sounds wonderful. I wanna talk to you about something important when I get home."_

Immediately, I have a lump in my throat.

" _It's not bad ... at least, I don't think it is,"_ she says thoughtfully.

"That makes everything better," I tell her.

Mom shows up, so we share "I love yous: and hang up.

I spend the rest of the day with my stomach twisted up in knots from nerves. I try to make the spaghetti sauce from scratch, but I can't tell if it tastes right because everything tastes like dirt.

I gotta get my shit together.

Bella shows up a little after seven, covered in ink.

"We made so much progress on your mom's sleeve. I'm so proud of it, it's not even funny." She gives me a sizzling kiss and tells me she'll be down after her shower.

I let my nerves get the best of me and leave the sauce to simmer before following her up the stairs.

She's singing an obnoxious song as she gathers some clothes for after she showers.

I watch from a crack in the door as she walks past the floor length mirror by the dresser and stops.

She twists back and forth, sucking in her stomach and blowing it out before laughing at herself.

"This is crazy," she whispers.

She looks around and picks up a throw pillow off our bed and shoves it underneath her cotton shirt and pats it.

 _HOLY FUCKING SHIT!_

I push the door wide open.

Bella's reflection looks completely shocked as she pulls the pillow out of her shirt and throws it across the room.

"Don't freak out," she pleads.

"Are you?" I gesture to her stomach.

"No." She shakes her head and walks to me. "But I've been thinking a lot. Dreaming a lot more. And I think I want a baby."

"You think? Fuck, sweetness. This isn't the kind of thing you do because you think you want to."

She places a hand on her hip.

"Fine. I want a baby, Edward. I haven't stopped thinking about it for weeks."

"Are you sure this isn't because of what happened with your mom?" I hedge. "Because we have plenty of time to think about kids."

"I've been thinking about this for weeks, Edward. My mom is a bitch, and I'm done with her." She grabs my hand and puts it on her stomach. "Think about having a little bit of you and a little bit of me mixed together to create a little something amazing."

"I thought we wanted to wait."

"Things change. If you aren't ready, I'll understand, but I just wanted to let you know what I want. That's what I wanted to talk to you about tonight."

I pull at my hair in frustration.

"I was hoping to broach the subject of you going to therapy tonight," I tell her.

Her eyes narrow.

"Why? I'm over what happened. The bitch is gone. Good riddance." Bella growls.

"You know every night since she showed up, you've woken me up bawling your eyes out? Fuck, Bella, I don't know what to do for you when you're like that. I'm not a professional."

"It's perfectly normal for someone to grieve, Edward," she says slowly. "Every night since then, I've had the same dream, and it has nothing to do with my mother."

I don't say anything, and she wraps me up in her arms.

"I see you holding a little bundle in your big arms, and you tell me you never thought you could be happier than you were the day you married me," she chokes out. "So that's probably why I've been crying at night. Because that dream is fucking beautiful. I want that. I want you to want that too."

"Okay, sweetness. We'll make a baby." I kiss her lips, but she pulls away.

"You can't just do this because it's something I want. It's gotta be a mutual thing."

"I would love a mini you," I tell her. "I want to be a daddy. I'm not getting any younger, so let's do it."

Her smile is blinding, and she attacks me even though she's still covered in ink. And she's still on birth control.


	30. Chapter 30

**Still don't own it**

 **30**

 **E**

Making a baby takes practice.

A lot of practice.

When Alice finds out we're trying, she tells Bella that the "no sex at the shop" rule is null and void.

She also insists that the baby be named Alice Junior. Highly fucking doubtful.

Bella stops taking her birth control and visits her lady doctor to make sure we've got a great foundation. Like everything, my girl's uterus is prime and ready to house a baby.

There are nights that we don't eat dinner because we're humping like bunnies, and afterward while I make grilled cheese, Bella sits with her hips angled up because she read that it helps my swimmers find her egg better.

She's fucking nuts.

Mom and Dad are over the moon and can't wait to be grandparents. I think Mom was online buying baby stuff when we left their house the night we told them. I wouldn't put it past her.

Andromeda refuses to use the toilet as a litter box, and I heard that pregnant women aren't supposed to be around the litter, so I bought one of those instant litter boxes that self cleans.

Sadly, I find Bella sitting on the edge of the tub, holding a negative pregnancy test. I console her and tell her the same thing I've told her for the past couple of months. "It takes time, sweetness. We'll keep trying, and it'll happen when it happens."

My birthday passes without much fanfare. My brother gets too drunk, Rosalie gifts me a fertility statue, and Alice gives me a box to open when Bella and I got home. Jasper got me a bottle of tequila because we always exchange bottles on our birthdays.

I take Bella home, and she takes Alice's gift into the bathroom, returning wearing a see-through red flannel nighty.

"I told Ali about me ruining the shirt I was wearing the night we met. She made you this as a new clothes memory." She takes a slow turn.

And I pounce.

And that night, on my birthday, Bella and I make a baby.


	31. Chapter 31

**Still don't own it**

 **31**

 **E**

Bella's only complaint about being pregnant is the fact that she has to pee every ten minutes.

It's like the second she peed on that little stick and we saw the positive sign, she's had to go constantly.

She hates it because she has to take a bunch of breaks when she's working on someone. Everyone seems understanding, but Bella's pissed because she has to change needles out when she returns, and it's costing a lot in product.

I help her with the finances, and they are taking a hit, but it's not as major as she's making it out to be. I tell her to start charging three percent more on tattoos and five on piercings, and she should be set for the quarter.

Bella's birthday passes, and unlike mine, we go all out.

Especially after she told Mom that she'd never celebrated when she was younger after her father passed.

We surprise her at my parents' house with a giant cake, birthday hats, and streamers. I had to talk my brother and Rose out of renting a petting zoo.

Okay, Bella has a second complaint about being pregnant. She cries all the time.

Most of the time, it's happy tears, but when Andromeda got out the back door and went missing for two days, Bella was inconsolable. It was terrible.

Bella cried a lot at her surprise birthday party. Even more so when she was presented with a mountain of presents.

Everyone knew she'd be uncomfortable with getting gifts, so the focus was on our precious baby growing inside her.

It was too soon to find out the sex, so everything was gender neutral, and Bella loved it all.

Everything for the baby is sitting in the room next to ours.

We haven't done anything to decorate it aside from painting the ceiling. Bella did a great job painting a dark sky with every constellation she could fit.

We decided to wait until we find out what we're having to finish it.

I find myself sitting next to Bella. She's got her shirt up over her breasts and her maternity pants pulled down. Her bump on proud display.

I've never seen my girl so fucking happy.

The doctor comes in, squirts some stuff that makes my wife squeal, and then uses a wand to spread the goo all around.

She points to things on a computer screen and presses buttons.

"We're wanting to find out, yeah?" she asks, pressing the wand into Bella's stomach harder.

"Yes," Bella and I say at the same time.

The doctor points to a spot in the middle of the screen.

That is the day I went out and bought a shotgun.

It's also the day Bella made me return it because there is a strict "no guns around the baby" rule.

I came back with an aluminum bat.

I'm going to need something to keep the boys away from my little girl.

Yeah, we're having a girl.

 _Fuck._

* * *

 **soooo we only have 2 more chapters and the epilogue left**

 **buuuuut Stupid Boy is so close to being ready. soooo close**


	32. Chapter 32

**Still don't own it**

 **Marley's Mother is 6 years old today! What better way to celebrate.**

 **an Inked update annd Stupid Boy will go live here shortly so keep your eye out**

 **32**

 **E**

"Edward, can you go downstairs and get me some orange juice?" Bella asks, a plate of chinese food is sitting on her belly, and her eyes don't leave the television screen.

I grimace.

She can eat the nastiest combinations of shit.

I almost put my foot down on the pickles with mayonnaise, but she moaned and groaned.

Bella's got two months to go, and she's only been on bed rest for one week.

One week and she's already driving me batty.

Her doctor is worried about her blood pressure and swelling.

So we've turned our bedroom into an igloo. There's a window air conditioner because the central air wasn't cool enough no matter how far we pushed it. She's got a mini fridge, and Mom wanted to get her a small microwave and toaster, but I said no.

I work from home unless I have to go in and cut checks for payroll.

Bella's comfortable with the _Keeping Up With The Kardashians_ DVDs Alice got her, but she calls me when it's time to change them out.

I try not to be annoyed because I put her in this situation, but sometimes it's hard.

Really fucking hard.

"Edward? Orange juice?"

"You drank all the juice in your fridge?" I call from my office.

"Um ... yeah, there's only cranberry, and it won't go with my beef and broccoli."

I roll my eyes.

 _But orange juice will go great with it._

I get her a tall glass of pulp-free orange juice and pick a piece of beef out from between her boobs.

"Thanks, baby," she says. "You rock."

I kiss her mouth and check her legs. Her feet are a little swollen, so I place a pillow underneath them and tell her to keep them elevated.

"Yes, sir."

I do everything I can to keep her comfortable and give her anything she wants.

Like when she wakes me up at three in the morning with the worst heartburn ever from the Chinese-orange juice combo. She's already eaten all of her antacids and needs me to run to the store before she bursts into flames.

It takes everything in me to stop myself from telling her that she did it to herself.

I drive to the local Walmart and grab a couple of bottles before hitting up the small floral department.

My girl could use a pick me up.

She loves the bag of antacids more than the crazy daisies I got her.

Figures.

 **one chapter and the epi left**

 **Stupid Boy goes live as soon as I figure out a summary**


	33. Chapter 33

**Still don't own it**

 **33**

 **E**

Vela Star Cullen enters the world screaming her fucking head off, and I immediately want to go back and buy the shotgun again.

My baby girl is stunning.

All red hair and big brown eyes.

Ten little fingers, ten perfect tiny toes.

The doctor is finishing up with Bella. Unfortunately, we had to go with cesarean section because of Bella's preeclampsia. Luckily, the delivery was fucking perfect, and the nurse immediately handed me my Vela.

When Bella told me she wanted to name our daughter after a constellation, I fought tooth and nail on a few because some of them were weird. I don't want my kid made fun of because of her name. But then she told me about Vela, her dad's favorite, and it just stuck.

Her middle name is obvious.

I watch her tiny, toothless mouth open, and she starts wailing.

I look at the closest nurse for help.

"Did I break her?" I panic.

"No." She laughs. "She probably wants to meet Mom, and Dad is hogging her."

"Yeah, jerk," Bella calls. "Stop hogging my baby and bring her here."

I carefully make my way to her, trying not to jostle the small bundle in my arms.

Before I hand Vela over, I look at Bella and smile a mile wide.

"I truly never thought I could be happier than I was the day I married you." I kiss her lips.

"I fucking love you," she chokes out, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

I hand over our daughter, and I'm so glad we decided to keep it just the two of us in the delivery room. Mom wasn't hurt or anything; she understood that we wanted it to be intimate.

I look down at the two loves of my life, and I can't help but tear up.

How did I ever think we weren't ready for this?

How is it possible to be willing to lay down and die for someone you've just met?

How did I get so lucky to fall in love at first sight, twice?

Bella reaches up and wipes a tear from my cheek.

"Look at this little piece of me and little piece of you. We made this."

Vela is violently attacking Bella's nipple.

We removed the rings a while back because Bella read that it would reduce her milk production. She was really adamant about breastfeeding.

"Does it hurt?" I ask, placing my hand on our baby's tiny back.

"Nah. Just feels strange. Why don't you go get everyone?"

"You want everyone in here with your tit hanging out?"

Bella gives me a look.

Fuck, she's got the mom look now.

"I'm feeding my daughter, so if they can't handle my tit, they are more than welcome to leave," she tells me.

I nod obediently and exit the room.

Mom's the first to pounce and then Alice.

I tell them they can come in and meet the baby, but they have to be quiet, and they can't stay long because Bella's exhausted.

I inform the men of the group that they better keep their eyes off my girl's breasts.

We find a tired Bella stroking the top of Vela's head while she eats.

When the door shuts, she looks up.

"Hi, guys. We'd like you to meet Vela Star Cullen," she says softly.

The girls coo, and the guys slap me on the back.

Eventually, everyone goes home, leaving me with my girls.

Bella falls asleep, and I'm left holding the little pink bundle.

"I am so happy," I tell Vela. "You're easily the best thing I've ever done."

I kiss her tiny nose.

 **the epilogue will post Sunday**

 **until then Stupid Boy is up and running :)**


	34. Epilogue

**I still don't own it**

 **This is it y'all!**

 **Thank you so much to Sally (Alice's White Rabbit) for making this story readable**

 **Huge thanks to JA Mash for the banner, for the manips and for the constant love and support**

 **Mega thanks to all of my readers! You guys rock**

 **34**

 **(epilogue)**

 **E**

 _ **Five years later**_

"Bella, I don't think this is a good idea," I warn.

"I think it's the best idea. What about you, Vela? Do you think this is a good idea?"

My little redheaded gremlin smiles and nods her head. "It's the best kind of idea," she says.

I roll my eyes.

My girls are constantly ganging up on me. So, I'm not really surprised right now.

They get everything they want from me. I'm a sucker for big brown eyes.

A deep laugh comes from my right.

Bella's old friend Jake is sitting in Alice's chair, getting a band tattooed on his ring finger to match the one Alice just did on his wife Leah.

"Don't wuss out man. She's five. What damage could she really do?"

"Um, a lot. She could be heavy-handed and cause a lot of scarring."

Bella's helping Vela into a pair of black gloves that are way too big for her tiny little hands.

I think I'm going to be sick.

"I really don't want to do this," I mutter.

Bella gives me a kiss and tells me to suck it up.

"Yeah, suck it up, buttercup," Vela adds.

She expertly picks up the tattoo gun and tests out the pedal, making the gun come to life. She's been watching her mother for years.

Maybe this won't be so bad.

Bella helps her load the needle with ink.

Bright fucking pink ink.

"Where at, Mommy?" Vela asks.

"Right here, under Mommy's name on Daddy's heart."

Vela's tongue pokes out of her mouth in concentration. She reaches for a dab of vaseline that she puts on the back of her hand and then grabs a paper towel.

She's been watching her mom too much.

She's a little heavy-handed, and I'm not going to lie, this shit hurts.

She takes her time, making sure her lines are perfect. Well, about as perfect as a five-year old is capable of.

And when she finally deems me finished, I let a giant breath out.

Jake is cackling.

"Vela, I think Uncle Jake needs a permanent picture too," I tell my daughter as Bella helps her clean up the station.

"Nah, man," Jake says, refusing to meet my girl's eyes.

But no one can resist Vela's big brown orbs or the way she sticks her bottom lip out as far as it'll go. Their eyes meet, and the big giant crumbles like a cookie.

"Shit. Fine. You can have the spot right here. That's it." He points to a spot on his rib cage.

That shit's gonna hurt.

I know because that's where Bella gave me my shopping cart and green Solo cup. And Bella's a professional. Not a heavy-handed five-year old.

Vela leads me to the mirror for my unveiling.

I'm kind of surprised.

Underneath the neat script _Bella Cullen_ is a thinner, childlike scribble _Vela Cullen_.

"What do you think, Daddy?" Vela asks nervously.

I pull her into my arms and kiss her cheek.

"It's fucking perfect, Ve."

Bella and I tried not to cuss in front of her in the beginning. But when Vela was nine months old, she started saying "fuck" and never really stopped.

Now that she's older, she knows what grownup words are that she shouldn't say.

She's taken that as words she shouldn't say in public.

Pretty sure I heard her call Andromeda an asshole the other day.

We sit around and watch Vela tattoo Uncle Jake and listen to her make plans for everyone in the family.

"Aunt Alice, Imma do a ladybug on you 'cause that time one landed on you and you ran around the yard screaming and taking your shirt off."

What Vela doesn't know is that Alice and Jasper had dropped acid before they came over for the cookout. When we finally got Alice back into her shirt, she admitted that she thought the ladybug was the size of a VW Bug.

"Never living that shit down," Alice mutters.

Bella and I have been working on giving Vela a sibling. Bella said she wants to give birth before I have gray hair ... too late for that.

Vela is crazy.

We have our hands full with her now. I cringe to think about how it's going to be when she's a teenager.

Will she turn into a monster when she's PMSing?

Is she going to fall in love at twenty-one and get married a month later?

How will I feel if that happens?

"Daddy?" Vela says, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, sweet thing?"

"I'm the best thing that ever happened to you and Momma." she states, turning back to her work on Jake.

She says that a lot.

Because we tell her that a lot.

"Stay still," Vela tells Jake in a stern voice.

"Yes, ma'am."

Jake walks away with a thick band on his ring finger and what I'm hoping was meant to be a heart. I truthfully can't tell.

Vela's got the bug.

Bella lets her tattoo her name underneath mine on her heart, but Alice passes, telling her they'll make an appointment for a later day.

If my baby girl doesn't take after her mother's profession, I'd be honestly surprised.

Just like her mother used to do all those years ago, she makes me take off my shirt and lie on the living room floor so she can draw on the parts of my back that Bella hasn't touched with her gun.

The phases of the moon across my shoulder blades is a favorite. My all-time favorite is Vela's baby footprints on my forearm; Bella has a matching tattoo on her arm.

Mom's sporting both sleeves now. One is the seamstress idea that Bella and Alice came up with, and the other is a collection of Vela's artwork. Dad's just not interested in permanently marking his body, which is fine.

Rose and Emmett are still living in sin and crazy as ever. They were recently arrested for indecent exposure because they thought it was okay to bang in their backyard. Their backyard doesn't have any privacy.

Alice and Jasper are taking their time. She actually asked him to marry her, but they're in no hurry. Jasper has still refused to go under Alice's gun, his fear of needles is too bad. It annoys her to no end. They still partake in recreational drugs, still smoke more weed than anyone I know.

Our lives aren't perfect, but just like Bella said the day we married—Our future is fucking brilliant, and we were written in the stars.

 **I will be posting pictures of a few things from the epi on my social media pages.**

 **Thank you for all of the support on this crazy, love at first sight ride**

 **XOXO Ashley**


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